Time and Venue
Date Time
12.12.2025 14:00-18:00 RuW 2.101
19.12.2025 14:00-18:00 RuW 2.101
16.01.2026 14:00-18:00 RuW 2.101
23.01.2026 14:00-18:00 RuW 2.101
13.02.2026 12:30-16:30 RuW 4.101
Language of Instruction: English
The Aim of the Course
The course introduces students to the history, philosophy, structure and multilevel functioning of human rights law. The course shows how and why human rights standards have emerged and how they change over time. It reviews competing conceptions of human rights, unravels their notions of universality and inalienability, and examines different sources and different types of human rights. Drawing on historical and contemporary cases from around the world, the course also surveys different state and non-state actors involved in the promotion and implementation of human rights and addresses obstacles to the protection of human rights. Special attention is given to the legal framework of the United Nations and regional systems for the institutional protection of human rights, their relationship and the specific remedies that exist for violations of human rights law under various regimes. On the basis of these insights, the course explores several topical debates in the field, including the responsibility to protect and the use of humanitarian intervention, extraterritorial application of human rights and the impact of non-state actors on human rights, in particular international organisations and transnational corporations.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of the course, the students will be able to:
- Identify relevant sources of human rights
- Analyse the role of the state in realization of human rights, understand the relation between human rights and democracy, and explain the role of human rights in the development of state sovereignty
- Critically assess different types of restrictions to human rights, by basing the assessment on the relevant legal instruments and international courts' jurisprudence
- Demonstrate knowledge of the relationship between international and national human rights law
- Compare and evaluate different global and regional mechanisms for the protection of human rights
- Acquire basic competencies in legal research and legal reasoning
