The course will consider some of the most pressing global issues of our time through an overview of the theory and practice of international human rights law, as well as the related fields of international humanitarian and criminal law. It will examine the evolution and content of human rights and humanitarian norms since the 1940s, their sources and legal status, and domestic, regional, and international mechanisms for implementing the norms. Topics include civil and political rights, economic and social rights, gender equality, development, indigenous peoples, children, corporations, individual criminal responsibility, and human rights in times of conflict and post-conflict. Students will become familiar with the United Nations human rights system, as well as with regional regimes, especially that of the Organization of American States and the Council of Europe. Themes throughout the course will include the tensions between universalism and cultural diversity, rights and duties as organizing conceptions, evolving notions of statehood and sovereignty, the responsibilities of states and non-state actors, the relevance of the private-public distinction, and the relationship between domestic and international legal orders.
Engle, Karen