Human Rights Litigation and Advocacy

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2008:

Objectives:

A candidate who has successfully completed the subject should:

• Develop the technical and strategic legal skills necessary to make use of human rights standards in domestic and international litigation; the analysis and development of legislation; and the design and implementation of public policy
• Possess the legal research skills necessary to identify the meaning and content of human rights standards as developed by international, regional and domestic courts, tribunals and other human rights bodies
• Be able to comment critically on the status of international human rights standards in domestic law and understand the circumstances when recourse can be made to human rights standards before courts to interpret legislation and develop domestic law
• Be able to identify the domestic mechanisms for the protection of human rights, including Bills of Rights, and assess the capacity of parliaments to provide effective protection of human rights
• Understand how to use human rights standards in policy formulation and advocacy and how to critically evaluate legislative and policy proposals by reference to such standards.

Syllabus:

Principal topics will include:

• The techniques required for developing an understanding as to the meaning and content of human rights standards, such as the right to life, torture, privacy, equality, health and education
• The mechanisms available for the domestic implementation of human rights standards, with a focus on:
  i. Comparative Bills and Charters of Rights, especially the Victorian Charter of Rights and Responsibilities
  ii. The capacity to use international human rights to interpret and develop domestic law in the courts
• The use of contemporary case studies, such as the war on terrorism, the treatment of refugees and homelessness to illustrate the use of human rights in domestic litigation and the evaluation of existing or proposed legislation
• The international mechanisms available for the protection of human rights standards, with a focus on the procedure and practice of lodging complaints with the Human Rights Committee and Special Rapporteurs of the Human Rights Council.

• Written assignment 3,000 words (30%) (23 October)
• Research paper 7,000 words (70%) (11 December) (topic approved by the subject coordinator)

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Objectives:

A candidate who has successfully completed the subject should:

• Develop the technical and strategic legal skills necessary to make use of human rights standards in domestic and international litigation; the analysis and development of legislation; and the design and implementation of public policy
• Possess the legal research skills necessary to identify the meaning and content of human rights standards as developed by international, regional and domestic courts, tribunals and other human rights bodies
• Be able to comment critically on the status of international human rights standards in domestic law and understand the circumstances when recourse can be made to human rights standards before courts to interpret legislation and develop domestic law
• Be able to identify the domestic mechanisms for the protection of human rights, including Bills of Rights, and assess the capacity of parliaments to provide effective protection of human rights
• Understand how to use human rights standards in policy formulation and advocacy and how to critically evaluate legislative and policy proposals by reference to such standards.

Syllabus:

Principal topics will include:

• The techniques required for developing an understanding as to the meaning and content of human rights standards, such as the right to life, torture, privacy, equality, health and education
• The mechanisms available for the domestic implementation of human rights standards, with a focus on:
  i. Comparative Bills and Charters of Rights, especially the Victorian Charter of Rights and Responsibilities
  ii. The capacity to use international human rights to interpret and develop domestic law in the courts
• The use of contemporary case studies, such as the war on terrorism, the treatment of refugees and homelessness to illustrate the use of human rights in domestic litigation and the evaluation of existing or proposed legislation
• The international mechanisms available for the protection of human rights standards, with a focus on the procedure and practice of lodging complaints with the Human Rights Committee and Special Rapporteurs of the Human Rights Council.

• Written assignment 3,000 words (30%) (23 October)
• Research paper 7,000 words (70%) (11 December) (topic approved by the subject coordinator)