Human Rights Beyond Borders

Subject LAWS70360 (2011)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2011.

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

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2011:

November, 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: Not available
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.

Contact

For more information, contact the Melbourne Law Masters office.

Email law-masters@unimelb.edu.au or phone +61 3 8344 6190.

Alternatively, visit our website:

www.masters.law.unimelb.edu.au

Subject Overview:

Principal topics will include:

  • The nature and scope of extraterritorial state activity, from war to occupation, the interception and detention of migrants and ‘pirates’, and the operation of embassies, military bases and detention facilities
  • The main contours of international human rights law
  • Relevant principles of general international law, including treaty interpretation, and relevant features of human rights law, including applicability in times of war and occupation, and co-application with other areas of law
  • Arguments of principle in favour of and against applicability, including concerns about ‘legal black holes’, indirect nationality discrimination, abuses of detainees, double standards and ‘human rights imperialism’
  • The main treaty provisions on applicability, including ‘jurisdiction’ and colonial extension clauses
  • Key general features of extraterritorial applicability, including the substantive meaning of human rights law extraterritorially, and the relevance to this of self-determination; the possibility of activating ‘derogation’ clauses and whether human rights treaties can and should apply to the actions of contracting states in the territories of other states not also parties to the same treaties
  • The meaning of the two ‘jurisdiction’ triggers for extraterritorial applicability, based on the exercise of control over territory or individuals
  • The extraterritorial application of other human rights treaties that use different triggers, notably the anti-discrimination treaties and the 1951 Refugee Convention
  • The application and significance of the non-refoulement obligation extraterritorially.
Objectives:

A student who has successfully completed this subject should:

  • Be proficient in understanding and applying the relevant areas of international law
  • Have an appreciation of the underlying issues of policy at stake and how they mediate, and are mediated by, the legal framework
  • Have a more sophisticated understanding of, and aptitude for, the law in general.
Assessment: Visit the Melbourne Law Masters website for more information about this subject.
Prescribed Texts: Core subject materials will be provided free of charge to all students. Some subjects require further texts to be purchased. Visit the Melbourne Law Masters website for more information about this subject.
Breadth Options:

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.
Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date

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