LAW7318 - International law and economic, cultural and social rights

Offered

Not offered in 2007

Synopsis

Securing the protection and promotion of economic, social and cultural rights remains a challenge in the 21st century. The significant advances in international human rights norms have predominantly been in the area of civil and political rights with economic, social or cultural rights being largely ignored, at least by developed states. Violations of economic, social and cultural rights happen on a regular basis but generally the victim of the violation is left without a remedy. Securing economic, social and cultural rights is difficult because of a perception of that breaches of such rights are non-justiciable.

Objectives

Upon completion of this unit, students should:

1. appreciate the historical development of economic, social and cultural rights within the broader international human rights movement;
2. understand and be able to analyse and critically comment on the theoretical debates about protecting and enforcing economic, social and cultural rights, including debates about the hierarchy of different generation of human rights;
3. understand and be able to analyse and critically comment on international, regional and local approaches to securing economic, social and cultural rights;
4. have a comprehensive understanding of the international human rights obligations and standards pertaining to economic, social and cultural rights, including the relevant international treaties, customary international law, and the domestic means of implementing the international norms;
5. have a comprehensive understanding of the international human rights system as it relates to the protection and promotion of economic, social and cultural rights;
6. have a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms (or lack thereof) for enforcing economic, social and cultural rights;
7. understand and be able to analyse and critically comment on a number of specific challenges to the protection and promotion of economic, social and cultural rights, such as, the justiciability of claims concerning violations of economic, social and cultural rights, what are appropriate remedies for breaches of economic, social or cultural rights, and the effectiveness of different models of domestic implementation;
8. be able to critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the UN processes for protecting economic, social or cultural rights, including the state reporting system;
9. have an appreciation of current challenges to and debates surrounding the future of economic, social and cultural rights;
10. be able to understand, evaluate and apply policy arguments for and against reform of the system surrounding the promotion and protection of economic, social or cultural rights;
11. be able to identify or find the relevant principles, laws and precedents and apply them to resolve issues relating to economic, social or cultural rights;
12. further develop legal research, writing, and legal argument skills in the area of economic, social or cultural rights; and
13. further develop oral articulation of legal argument during class discussions.

Assessment

Students may opt to complete in the assessment requirements in one of two ways.

Option A:
Research Paper (7,500 words) 100%

or

Option B:
Research Paper (3,750 words) 50%
Take-home Examination (3,750 words) 50%

Contact hours

24 contact hours per semester regardless of the mode of offering