Karen Shay West's Home Page

International Human Rights:

Course topics:

• What are Human Rights


• To What Situations Do Human Rights Apply


• When May Human Rights Be Restricted


• When Must the State Intervene To Protect Human Rights


• How Much Must States Do To Fulfill Human Rights


• What Is Discrimination


• How Are Human Rights Protected At A Domestic Level?


• How Are Human Rights Protected At An International Level?

Overview: International human rights law, unquestionably an exciting field, is also complex and demanding. Professor Olivier de Schutter of the Unviersity of Louvain, Belgium, focused on international human rights law as global legal system, rather than as a collection of different (though related) rights, giving it relevance and immediacy. Drawing on cases and materials from a wide range of sources, he showed how human rights law is used as a tool to address contemporary issues such as counter terrorism, global poverty and religious diversity. Materials were organized thematically, allowing readers to make comparisons and connections between different legal treaties and systems. Students were also easily able to assess how human rights are protected under domestic and international laws. The law was placed in context throughout, ensuring full understanding of why laws exist and how they work.

Contents of the Professor's Book Chapters read during course included:

• Part I. The Sources: Introduction
  • The origins
  
  
  • Human rights as part of public international
  
  
  • State responsibility and jurisdiction
  
  


• Part II. The Substantive Obligations: Introduction
  • The obligation to respect
  
  
  • The obligation to protect
  
  
  • The obligation to fulfill
  
  
  • Derogation in times of public emergency
  
  
  • The prohibition of discrimination
  
  


• Part III. Mechanisms of Protection:
  • Ensuring compliance with international human rights law: the role of national authorities
  
  
  • The United Nations human rights treaties system
  
  
  • The United Nations Charter based monitoring of human rights
  
  
  • Regional mechanisms of protection