Università Roma Tre

The purpose of the course is to provide an introduction to the theoretical and legal issues raised by the development of human rights at the international level.
The course is designed to give the tools to help students to approach universal and regional mechanisms of human rights protection. Topics will include the historical development of ideas which has led to the conceptualization of human rights; the understanding of human rights law in the perspective of international law theory; universal and regional systems of protection; typology of State obligations; the scope of human rights.
In the last part, classes are organised thematically. Students will address contemporary issues related to human rights. This allows students to make comparisons and connections between different theories and legal mechanisms of protection.
The course will cover the following areas:
1. The History of International Human Rights
2. Human Rights Law as Part of International Law (I): legal sources
3. Human Rights Law as Part of International Law (II): reservations to and interpretation of human rights treaties
4. Generations of HR and the Typology of States’ Obligations
5. On the Territorial Reach of Human Rights: State responsibility and ‘jurisdiction’
6. Domestic Implementation of IHRL
7. Mechanisms of Protection: the United Nations System
8. Regional Systems Compared: Inter-American, European and African
9. Lodging an Application with the European Court of Human Rights
10. Reparations for Victims of Human Rights



Course Learning Objectives
At the end of this course, students should be proficient in the following subject areas and skills:
- being familiar with the historical development and the theoretical approaches related to human rights
- having knowledge of the global and regional systems of protection
- carrying out proper analysis on selected issues in human rights

Dinah Shelton, Advanced Introduction To International Human Rights Law. Cheltenham - UK: E. Elgar, 2014.
Students will receive a reader which will include selected articles and excerpts from relevant literature.