Human Rights Litigation and Advocacy

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2009:

Although case studies will be drawn from human rights litigation and advocacy in Australia, consideration will also be given to other jurisdictions. The general principles and themes are intended to have relevance and application beyond the Australian context to any domestic jurisdiction.

Objectives:

A student who has successfully completed this subject should:

• Develop an understanding of the practical skills necessary to make use of human rights standards in two contexts: Litigation (domestic and international) and advocacy (the capacity to invoke human rights at the domestic level to promote or respond to the development of legislation and the design and implementation of public policy)
• Be aware of the strategic and technical limitations in using human rights standards in litigation and advocacy initiatives at the domestic level
• Be able 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 when recourse can be made to human rights standards before domestic courts
• Be able to identify and critically assess the domestic mechanisms for the protection of human rights
• Have the capacity to identify when a human rights issue arises in a particular case and possess the skills necessary to identify the strategies available for the protection of that right at the domestic and international level.

Syllabus:

Principal topics will include:

• An examination of the essential features required for effective human rights litigation and advocacy
• The research techniques required to develop an understanding of 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 Human Rights and Responsibilities and its particular features
  ii The use of international human rights in domestic litigation
• The use of case studies to identify human rights issues and prepare appropriate reports and submissions to government inquiries, courts and other bodies (case studies will be drawn from issues such as the war on terror, the treatment of refugees and homelessness)
• The international mechanisms available at a domestic level 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%) (13 July)
• Research paper 7,000 words (70%) (10 September) (topic approved by the subject coordinator)

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Objectives:

A student who has successfully completed this subject should:

• Develop an understanding of the practical skills necessary to make use of human rights standards in two contexts: Litigation (domestic and international) and advocacy (the capacity to invoke human rights at the domestic level to promote or respond to the development of legislation and the design and implementation of public policy)
• Be aware of the strategic and technical limitations in using human rights standards in litigation and advocacy initiatives at the domestic level
• Be able 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 when recourse can be made to human rights standards before domestic courts
• Be able to identify and critically assess the domestic mechanisms for the protection of human rights
• Have the capacity to identify when a human rights issue arises in a particular case and possess the skills necessary to identify the strategies available for the protection of that right at the domestic and international level.

Syllabus:

Principal topics will include:

• An examination of the essential features required for effective human rights litigation and advocacy
• The research techniques required to develop an understanding of 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 Human Rights and Responsibilities and its particular features
  ii The use of international human rights in domestic litigation
• The use of case studies to identify human rights issues and prepare appropriate reports and submissions to government inquiries, courts and other bodies (case studies will be drawn from issues such as the war on terror, the treatment of refugees and homelessness)
• The international mechanisms available at a domestic level 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%) (13 July)
• Research paper 7,000 words (70%) (10 September) (topic approved by the subject coordinator)

Although case studies will be drawn from human rights litigation and advocacy in Australia, consideration will also be given to other jurisdictions. The general principles and themes are intended to have relevance and application beyond the Australian context to any domestic jurisdiction.