PADM 5856

International Human Rights Law and Policy

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2023-2024.

We will address major challenges in international human rights law, policy and practice.  Specific topics include children's rights, the rights of refugees and migrants, freedom from torture, the death penalty, modern slavery, and the right to sustainable development.  We will also discuss the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and corporations with respect to human rights, as well as the impact of actions (and inactions) by states and institutions in the "Global North" on the realization of human rights in states in the "Global South."

When Offered Fall.

Permission Note Enrollment limited to: students in the Executive Master of Public Administration program.

• Students will apply an understanding of the legal framework and sources of law (treaties, customary international law, UN institutions and machinery) governing international human rights law and policy, as well as a strong introduction to the substance of many internationally recognized human rights.
• Students will debate how international human rights principles and mechanisms are created and how they work in practice, with an emphasis on political factors and empirical evaluation of the efficacy of various mechanisms.
• Students will apply legal reasoning tools necessary to analyze U.S. legal sources (statutes, regulations, judicial and administrative opinions and guidance) as they relate to international human rights obligations of the U.S.
• Students will utilize legal reasoning and argumentation skills necessary to conduct oral arguments on behalf of fictional clients in leading U.S. Supreme Court cases regarding human rights.

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