Trade, Human Rights and Development

Subject LAWS70122 (2010)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2010.

Credit Points: 12.50
Level: 7 (Graduate/Postgraduate)
Dates & Locations:

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2010:

July, Parkville - Taught on campus.
Pre-teaching Period Start not applicable
Teaching Period not applicable
Assessment Period End not applicable
Last date to Self-Enrol not applicable
Census Date not applicable
Last date to Withdraw without fail not applicable


Timetable can be viewed here. For information about these dates, click here.
Time Commitment: Contact Hours: The total class time is between 24 and 26 hours.
Total Time Commitment: Visit the Melbourne Law Masters website for more information about this subject.
Prerequisites: Visit the Melbourne Law Masters website for more information about this subject.
Corequisites: Visit the Melbourne Law Masters website for more information about this subject.
Recommended Background Knowledge: Visit the Melbourne Law Masters website for more information about this subject.
Non Allowed Subjects: Visit the Melbourne Law Masters website for more information about this subject.
Core Participation Requirements: Visit the Melbourne Law Masters website for more information about this subject.

Coordinator

Assoc Prof Sundhya Pahuja

Contact

For the most up-to-date information about this subject, contact the Melbourne Law Masters Office by email at law-masters@unimelb.edu.au or phone 8344 6190 or alternatively visit the subject website: www.masters.law.unimelb.edu.au
Subject Overview:

Principal topics will include:

  • Introduction to the contested meanings of human rights, trade and development
  • The historical evolution of the debate concerning the links between human rights and development, including the debate on the right to development
  • Rights-based approaches to development, including one or more case studies
  • The links between trade and development and trade and human rights, examined through case studies
  • An examination of the new turn towards human rights and law by the World Bank and the IMF
  • The debate over global versus local labour standards and the dilemmas over monitoring
  • The ethics, policy and law of the outsourcing debate and their links to human rights and development.
Objectives:

A student who has successfully completed this subject should:

  • Understand the historical links between human rights, trade and development and their contested meanings
  • Have a good knowledge of the doctrinal debates about rights to development and the legal barriers in the institutionalisation of rights in the development process, as well as the place of law in the development process
  • Understand the practices of international economic institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization, and the positions they have taken with respect to development and 'rights-based' development
  • Be aware of the dilemmas of introducing human rights in international trade negotiations and dispute resolution mechanisms, as well as the complexities of the labour standards debate
  • Be familiar with the experience of rights-based development in the domestic legal systems of selected countries, including the constitutionalisation of social and economic rights
  • Develop a critical perspective on the broad set of issues that lie at the intersection of human rights, trade and development, and be able to engage in related legal and policy matters.
Assessment:

Class participation (10%)
Group exercise (10%)
8,000 word research paper (80%) (21 October) on a topic approved by the subject coordinator

Prescribed Texts: Visit the subject website for more information
Breadth Options:

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills: Visit the Melbourne Law Masters website for more information about this subject.
Links to further information: http://www.masters.law.unimelb.edu.au/

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