Study Programme B-KUL-C06G2A E.U. Human Rights Law and Policy

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General information

  • Academic year: 2011-2012
  • Study points: 4
  • Language: English
  • Difficulty: Advanced
  • Duration: 26.0 hours Schedule
  • Periodicity: Taught in the second semester
  • POC: POC Engelstalige programma's rechten
  • This course cannot be followed within the context of an exam contract
 Print version
 

Taught by

Verstichel Annelies

Aims

This course is intended to focus on human rights, as they are to be respected, protected and promoted by the European Union. Not only the human rights legal framework within which the EU operates will be discussed (EU human rights law), but also the way the EU makes use of its competences to advance a human rights policy, both within and outside the EU

Previous knowledge

asic knowledge of the international law of human rights and of the constitutional law of the EU.

Content

1. Development of a human rights framework
     a. General principles, based on the constitutional traditions of the Member States and international human rights instruments
     b. EC and EU treaties
     c. The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights
     d. Accession to the European Convention on Human Rights
2. Position of human rights in the EU legal order
    a. Relationship between national, EU and international human rights standards
    b. Enforcement and monitoring mechanisms
    (With respect to both EU and its Member States)
            - Non-judicial mechanisms
              Pre-accession strategy, Copenhagen criteria, Article 7 TEU, EU Fundamental Rights Agency and other EU bodies, ...
            - Judicial mechanisms
                . Access to national courts
                . Access to the Court of Justice
                 (Direct and indirect challenges of EU acts)
                . Access to the European Court of Human Rights
                 (Collective responsibility of EU Member States; accession of EU to ECHR mechanism)
3. Promotion of human rights
    a. Fundamental rights policy at the internal level
          - Justice, freedom and security
          - Employment, social affairs and equal opportunities
    b. Human rights policy at the external level
          - The areas (common foreign and security policy; development cooperation)
          - The instruments (common strategies, joint actions, common positions; guidelines; demarches and declarations; human rights dialogues; human rights clauses; funding; …)
           - EU action in international fora
4. Selected topics: some thematic issues in particular    E.g.: death penalty; torture; rights in the fight against terrorism; data protection; social rights; equality and discrimination; racism and intolerance; rights of children; rights of refugees and migrants; democracy and elections; …

This course is included in

Master of Laws (LLM)   (European Human Rights: option) (Required)  

Course Material

Articles and literature
Toledo / e-platform

Prerequisites

Mixed prerequisite:
If you want to take this course, you need to fulfil the following prerequisites:
Explanation:
STRICT: If you want to take this course, you need to have passed or used a tolerance for the coures indicated here.
SMOOTH: If you want to take this course, you need to have attended the courses indicated here.
SIMULTANEOUS: If you want to take this course, you need to take / need to have taken the courses indicated here.
DIPLOMA: If you want to take this course, you need to have obtained at least one of the diplomas indicated here.


DIPLOMA (50268919)

The codes of the courses (or diplomas) correspond with the descriptions beneath:
50268919:  Master of Laws in de rechten

Activities

B-KUL-C06G2A E.U. Human Rights Law and Policy

Evaluation

B-KUL-C26G2a Evaluation: E.U. Human Rights Law and Policy