Description

Coordinator/Lecturer: Julia Kozma, Member of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT, Council of Europe),

Lecturers: Claudia Lam, Adviser at the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights (Council of Europe); Paul Lemmens, Judge at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR, Council of Europe)

This seminar is aimed at acquainting the students with the main concepts and principles of human rights law. Starting with an interactive task for students, in the course of which they are given the opportunity to present their own understanding and existing knowledge of the international, regional and national human rights regimes, the history and philosophy of human rights, differentiation from related concepts such as refugee law and humanitarian law, the main universal and regional human rights treaties and institutions, and key principles such as universality, inalienability and indivisibility of human rights will be critically discussed. At the end of this part, students should feel comfortable in the use of basic international legal terminology.

The second part of the seminar will look at the substance of different categories of rights, and related State obligations (respect-protect-fulfil). Based on the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), derogations from and limitations of human rights will be explained. Students will have the opportunity to apply the ECtHR’s proportionality test on a number of short cases, with the help of a step-by-step analysis tool that will be handed out to them.

Modalités d'organisation et de suivi

Evaluation will be conducted based on both active class participation and implementation of individual and group assignments such as case studies and role-play.  If students wish to improve their mark at the end of the course, an essay to be handed in until the end of the winter semester can be assigned.

Syllabus

I. Seminar: Introduction to Human Rights (3h)

Julia Kozma (j.kozma@unistra.fr)

This seminar is aimed at acquainting the students with the main concepts and principles of human rights law. Starting with an interactive task for students, in the course of which they are given the opportunity to present their own understanding and existing knowledge of the international, regional and national human rights regimes, the history and philosophy of human rights, differentiation from related concepts such as refugee law and humanitarian law, the main universal and regional human rights treaties and institutions, and key principles such as universality, inalienability and indivisibility of human rights will be critically discussed. At the end of this part, students should feel comfortable in the use of basic international legal terminology.

The second part of the seminar will look at the substance of different categories of rights, and related State obligations (respect-protect-fulfil). Based on the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), derogations from and limitations of human rights will be explained. Students will have the opportunity to apply the ECtHR’s proportionality test on a number of short cases, with the help of a step-by-step analysis tool that will be handed out to them.

Reading materials:

-          Council of Europe, Compass, Manual for Human Rights Education with Young People, “What are Human Rights?”,

http://www.coe.int/en/web/compass/what-are-human-rights-

-          Leila Nasr, London School of Economics and Political Science, Human Rights Blog, “Are Human Rights Really ‘Universal, Inalienable, and Indivisible’?”,

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/humanrights/2016/09/14/are-human-rights-really-universal-inalienable-and-indivisible/

-          Mikael Rask Madsen, “The Challenging Authority of the European Court of Human Rights: From Cold War Legal Diplomacy to the Brighton Declaration and Backlash”,

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2588471 (click “Download this paper”)

II. Thematic Seminar: The Right to Life and the Prohibition of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (3h)

Julia Kozma

“Article 2, which safeguards the right to life and sets out the circumstances when deprivation of life may be justified, ranks as one of the most fundamental provisions in the Convention, to which no derogation is permitted. Together with Article 3 [the prohibition of torture and other forms of ill-treatment], it also enshrines one of the basic values of the democratic societies making up the Council of Europe.” The ECtHR has in its judgments time and again repeated this opinion regarding the right to life; and indeed, notwithstanding the notion that all human rights are equally important for a dignified human existence, it is evident that none of the other rights could be applied if Article 2 ECHR had been violated and an individual’s life had been taken.

The Court puts the right not to be subjected to torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, which is termed as an absolute prohibition in Article 3 ECHR, on an equal footing with the right to life, as it enshrines the fundamental notion of the inviolability of human dignity.

Exemplary for many other rights, these two provisions provide an excellent opportunity to discuss the main difference between absolute rights and rights that are subject to limitations, thereby enhancing the students’ skill to apply the ECtHR’s proportionality test, as well as to comprehend State obligations.

Moreover, both rights raise a number of complex legal and moral questions, which illustrate the dilemmas often faced by those who are called to adjudicate on them.

Reading materials (students will be requested to prepare a selection of the below-mentioned cases – go to: hudoc.echr.coe.int):

-          ECtHR: Soering v. The United Kingdom, Application no. 14038/88, 7 July 1989, available at HUDOC

-          ECtHR: Öcalan v. Turkey, Application no. 46221/99, 12 May 2005, available at HUDOC

-          ECtHR: Bader and Kanbor v. Sweden, Application no. 13284/04, 8 November 2005, available at HUDOC

-          ECtHR: Pretty v. The United Kingdom, Application no. 2346/02, 29 April 2002, available at HUDOC

-          ECtHR: Vo v. France, Application no. 53924/00, 8 July 2004, available at HUDOC

-          ECtHR: McCann and Others v. The United Kingdom, Application no. 18984/91, 27 September 1995, available at HUDOC

-          ECtHR: Perişan and Others v. Turkey, Application no. 12336/03, 20 May 2010, available at HUDOC (French only!)

-          ECtHR: Nachova and Others v. Bulgaria, Applications nos. 43577/98 and 43579/98, 6 July 2005, available at HUDOC

-          ECtHR: Soare and Others v. Romania, Application no. 24329/02, 22 February 2011, available at HUDOC

-          ECtHR: Osman v. The United Kingdom, Application no. 23452/94, 28 October 1998, available at HUDOC

-          ECtHR: Ireland v. The United Kingdom, Application no. 5310/71, 18 January 1978, available at HUDOC

-          ECtHR: Z. and Others v. The United Kingdom, Application no. 29392/95, 10 May 2001, available at HUDOC

-          ECtHR: Tyrer v. The United Kingdom, Application no. 5856/72, 25 April 1978, available at HUDOC

-          ECtHR: Selmouni v. France, Application no. 25803/94, 28 July 1999, available at HUDOC

-          ECtHR: Mikheyev v. Russia, Application no. 77617/01, 26 January 2006, available at HUDOC

-          ECtHR: Gäfgen v. Germany, Application no. 22978/05, 1 June 2010, available at HUDOC

III. Seminar: The European Court of Human Rights and its contribution to the rule of law in Europe (3h)

Judge Ledi Bianku

Ledi Bianku was a Judge at the European Court of Human Rights, elected in respect of Albania, from 2008 to 2019. As a member of the Court, he worked on several important cases related to refugee crises in Europe, the consequences of global terrorism, the independence of the judiciary, the human rights consequences of major historical events such as the invasion of Iraq and the 2016 coup in Turkey, the right to privacy in electronic communications, etc.  As of October 2021, Ledi holds the position of international judge at the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. With his vast first-hand experience, he will talk about the importance of the rule of law in Europe, and the Court’s guarantor role in upholding these values.

IV. Thematic Seminar: Women’s rights and gender equality (3h)

Claudia Lam (Claudia.LAM@coe.int)

In the course of this thematic seminar, the students will discuss with an experienced practitioner in the field issues such as de jure and de facto equality, stereotypes and prejudice against women, as well as women’s access to justice.  The lecturer will provide students with a number of key statements to be examined, and together they will solve a practical case study.

Reading materials:

-      Fighting violence against women must be a top priority in Europe - Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty, Council of Europe, June 2025

-      European Court of Human Rights Registry Press Unit, Factsheets on gender equality , violence against women and domestic violence

V. Thematic Seminar: Trafficking in human beings and forced labour (3h)

Claudia Lam

This thematic seminar will clarify legal definitions and put them into the context of real world experiences. Students will learn about a victim-centered and human rights-based approach to combating human trafficking and forced labour.  A case study will be provided to the students, which will give them the opportunity to apply legal remedies.

Reading materials:

-          Council of Europe’s Action against trafficking in human beings’ website: two leaflets on the anti-trafficking Convention (victim’s rights and monitoring mechanism)

-          Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights: “In times of crises, states should step up their efforts to prevent human trafficking and protect victims”, statement 29 July 2022

-          European Court of Human Rights Registry Press Unit, Factsheet on Slavery, Servitude and Forced Labour and Factsheet on Trafficking in Human Beings.

-          United Nations - Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking, 2002

VI. Final Seminar: Arguing a Case before the ECtHR – Practical Implementation of the Acquired Knowledge (3h)

Julia Kozma

The students will be provided with the principle facts of a case before the ECtHR; in different groups, they will argue for the claimants’ or the government’s side, or sit as judges who will ultimately have to decide whether a violation has occurred.

NB: Active participation in this task will form part of the students’ assessment!

MCC

Les épreuves indiquées respectent et appliquent le règlement de votre formation, disponible dans l'onglet Documents de la description de la formation.

Régime d'évaluation

CT (Contrôle terminal, mêlé de contrôle continu)

Coefficient

1.0

Évaluation initiale / Session principale - Épreuves