Duration
30h Th
Number of credits
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
English language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the second semester
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
This course aims to provide a general overview of the main institutional, substantive and procedural aspects of the branch of the law dealing with the protection of human rights, as well as of the key practical issues associated with human rights litigation. To this end, the course will build on the basic knowledge already acquired in this field by students, directly or indirectly, throughout their curriculum. The approach will be inclusive: for each section of the course, the contribution and the specifics of all spheres of human rights protection (domestic, regional, universal) will be covered. Yet, the sphere of the Council of Europe (European Convention on Human Rights) will be of particular relevance.
The course will be divided into four major sections:
I.- General introduction
II.- Human rights institutions and mechanisms
III.- Human rights: substantive aspects
IV.- Human rights: procedural aspects.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
- Basic knowledge of key principles of public international law;
- Ability to use English as a working language.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
The teaching method for this course will vary.
Lectures will be the basis of sections I, II and IV.
For section III (substantive aspects), students will be invited to becoming familiar with the relevant human rights and associated judicial interpretation on their own. This proactive learning experience will be collective in nature, and will be based on ressources provided by the instructor (a reader with key pieces of doctrinal literature and case law, a series of quizz questions and a Powerpoint presentation). Groups of 6 students will be formed, in which each student will act as an expert-rapporteur for one specific fundamental right. Detailed information will be provided in class.
Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)
Recommended or required readings
A reader with case law and literature will be published in connection with section III of the course.
Assessment methods and criteria
The evaluation method will be threefold:
* 5 % of the final grade: attendance and participation in connection with section III of the course (see above).
* 30 % of the final grade: a paper taking the form of a very short (1,500 words maximum) commentary of a recent and significant decision in the area of human rights. The decision to comment on will be determined by the instructor. As an alternative, the instructor may offer students to participate - on a voluntary basis - in an actual human rights procedure. Participation in this form of law clinic cannot be guaranteed and will depend on concrete opportunities that would emerge during the semester.
* 65 % of the final grade: a take-home exam for which students will be invited - by consulting any type of resources they wish - to resolve one or several practical exercises and to give their opinion on one or several general issues pertaining to the protection of human rights.
Work placement(s)
Organizational remarks
Students are encouraged to acquire this collection of relevant material:
Blackstone's International Human Rights Documents (11th ed., 2018)
Students are encouraged to acquire this collection of relevant material:
Blackstone's International Human Rights Documents (11th ed., 2018)
Students are encouraged to acquire this collection of relevant material:
Blackstone's International Human Rights Documents (11th ed., 2018)
Contacts
Christophe Deprez (Christophe.Deprez@uliege.be)
Adaptation of teaching commitments following the COVID-19 pandemic for the May-June 2020 session
Teaching methods implemented : distance-learning
Due to the Covid-19 situation, section IV of the course (human rights procedure) now takes the form of a series of three videos available in the podcast section of the course tab on MyULiège (week 7, week 8 and week 9). Section III of the course (substantive human rights law) is replaced by individual reading on the substantive right of attribution, online instructions to facilitate that reading (week 6), as well as a podcast available on MyULiège to highlight the most essential aspects of Arts. 2, 3, 5, 6, 8 and 10 ECHR (week 10).
Assessment subjects
The content of all lectures and online podcasts, as well students' personal reading on one substantive right of attribution, will be the basis for the take-home exam. This means that, for the purpose of the exam, students are expected to have good command of the content of all lectures and podcasts on institutional, substantive as well as procedural human rights law - plus, as far as substantive human rights law is concerned, to be familiar in more details with one (out of six) substantive rights.
Assessment methods
Instructions and arrangements for the assessment of the course remain (almost) unchanged:
- 5 % of the final grade (1/20) will be automatically granted to all students as the participatory experience had to be cancelled due to the Covid-19 situation;
- 30 % of the final grade (6/20) will be determined by the result of the case note due April 13 (or, for legal clinic students, by the grade that will be attributed to them based on participation in that experience);
- 65 % of the final grade (13/20) will be determined by the result of the take-home exam currently scheduled on Wednesday, June 10th.
Contacts
Christophe.Deprez@uliege.be
Adaptation of teaching commitments following the COVID-19 pandemic for the Aug-Sept 2020 session
Assessment subjects
The content of all lectures and online podcasts, as well students' personal reading on one substantive right of attribution, will be the basis for the resit exam. This means that, for the purpose of the resit exam, students are expected to have good command of the content of all lectures and podcasts on institutional, substantive as well as procedural human rights law - plus, as far as substantive human rights law is concerned, to be familiar in more details with one (out of six) substantive rights.
Assessment methods
Instructions and arrangements for the assessment of the course remain (almost) unchanged for the resit session in August/September:
- 5 % of the final grade (1/20) will be automatically granted to all students as the participatory experience had to be cancelled due to the Covid-19 situation;
- 30 % of the final grade (6/20) will be determined by the result of a case note. In this respect, students will have the opportunity either to keep their initial grade for the case note submitted during the course of the semester, or to rewrite a new case note. In the latter case, the grade for the new case note will automatically replace the older one, whether the new one is higher or not;
- 65 % of the final grade (13/20) will be determined by the result of a resit take-home exam that will be scheduled some time in August/September.
Contacts
Christophe.Deprez@uliege.be