International Human Rights - 6 crediti

The aim of the course is to help students familiarise with the main international rules (both customary and treaty based) in the field of Human Rights.

The first part of the course will deal with the main aspects of International Human Rights:

1. The origin of the international protection of individual rights: the treatment of aliens and diplomatic protection; humanitarian law; the protection of minorities between the two World Wars.
2.  The UN Charter; the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.
3. Regional systems of human rights protection: specifically, The European Convention of Human Rights 1950 and its subsequent modifications. Scope of the Convention, protected rights and supervisory mechanisms. The relationship with the Italian and EU legal orders.
4. Human rights protection in the UN framework: the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966); conventions in specific fields; the Human Rights Council; the role of other UN bodies: specifically, the Security Council.
5. Human rights in customary international law.

The second part of the course will take the form of an inter-disciplinary seminar on migration.  The seminar will be held jointly by the courses of Legal Theory (Prof. Orsetta Giolo), History of Criminal Law (Prof. Michele Pifferi) and International Human Rights. National regulations concerning migrations can be properly assessed only by taking into account, on one side, their background of legal theory and legal history; and, on the other side, international and Europena legal standards. The aim of the seminar is to offer students an inter-disciplinary perspective through which to appraise the Italian legislation and draft legislation on these issues, exspecially as regards their criminal law aspects.

Lessons, as well as the final exam, will be held in English; during the seminar Italian will be used as well. There will be two opportunities to sit the exam for Legal English and International Human Rights simultaneously, once in the summer and once in the autumn.

For students who attend the course, the exam will focus on the issues discussed in class; a bibliography and reference materials will be distributed during the course.

For students not attending the course, the reference text is:

C. TOMUSCHAT, Human Rights Between Idealism and Realism, 2nd ed., Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2008.

It is advisable to familiarise with the texts of the main human rights instruments.

The Legal English programme should be discussed individually with Prof. Riley, and requires students to present a case decided by the European Court of Human Rights. The case should be chosen from a list available under the section "materiali" in this web page.