International Human Rights Law (Foundation Course)

This certificate course introduces participants to the basics of international human rights law. The course is intended to not only build the foundations of the participants in international human rights law, but also as a foundation course for other HREA e-learning courses and to serve as a stepping stone for developing expertise in specialised areas of human rights law and practice.

The course adopts a holistic approach to learning international human rights law, beginning from its normative foundations and emergence as a distinct field of international law to its contemporary status and challenges for the future. Given the introductory nature of this course, emphasis is placed throughout on idealism as well as realism, including an understanding of how international and domestic politics have influenced and continue to influence the field of international human rights law. On the normative side, participants will analyse the merits and demerits of categorising human rights under different labels and its effects on human rights promotion. They will look at case studies from around the world that expose the tensions between cultural relativism and universality of human rights, and will also look at the concepts of collective rights and rights of vulnerable persons. On the practical side, participants will be introduced to the most important mechanisms as well as challenges to the realization and promotion of human rights, including State compliance and judicial enforcement. Finally, the inter-play between nation-states and civil society will be scrutinised with a strong focus on NGO activism and the emerging challenges thereto.

Registration is closed. This course will be offered next in 2021.