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Understanding Human Rights - LAWS3362

Faculty: Faculty of Law

School: Faculty of Law

Course Outline: See below

Campus: Sydney

Career: Undergraduate

Units of Credit: 6

EFTSL: 0.12500 (more info)

Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 3

Enrolment Requirements:

Restricted to students enrolled in Legal Studies: Prerequisite: Academic Program must be either 4055 or 3408 or 4054.

CSS Contribution Charge: 1 (more info)

Tuition Fee: See Tuition Fee Schedule

Further Information: See Class Timetable

View course information for previous years.

Description

Understanding Human Rights examines the moral and legal foundations of the contemporary human rights discourse. It explores the philosophical and religious origins of human rights and the development of national and international human rights instruments. The course analyses the claims of Western bias in the human rights discourse and evaluates the effectiveness of historical and contemporary approaches to human rights protection. The course uses contemporary examples of human rights abuse to illustrate the content.

Recommended Prior Knowledge

None

Course Objectives

The course aims to ensure that students become familiar with the moral principles which undergird the contemporary human rights discourse and the legal principles which support it. Students will be taught how to research this area of global interest, drawing on knowledge from a number of different disciplines, including philosophy, history, the social sciences and law.

More specifically,

Students will be introduced to the major dilemmas facing the international community in addressing human rights issues and acquire the analytical tools necessary for understanding them.
Students will learn how to apply the theory they learn contemporary situations and determine when the formal application of international law or the use of informal mechanisms, such as NGOs, is more effective in overcoming and remedying human rights abuses.

Main Topics

The idea of human rights in philosophy and religion;
Notions of absolutism, universalism, cultural relativism, and pluralism in relation to human rights;
The development of historical and contemporary human rights documents;
International and Australian Human Rights Law; International Humanitarian Law;
The effectiveness of current human rights protection internationally and domestically;
Human rights expansionism; and the relationship between rights and responsibilities.

Assessment