Course content - Learning outcome - Admission - Prerequisites - Overlapping courses - Teaching - Examination - Evaluation

Course content

The legal protection of human rights on the international level has
developed rapidly since the end of World War II while the post-Cold War
period has seen a proliferation of remedial mechanisms. The course
places human rights law in a broader context of international law, and
gives an overview of the legal developments in human rights from 1789
through to the present, with a focus on the Universal Declaration on
Human Rights, international and regional human rights treaties and UN
Charter bodies. However, the primary focus of the course is to describe
important legal characteristics of human rights treaties, such as the
personal and territorial scope of application, the treaty bodies, the
supervision and enforcement mechanisms, and the legal impact on a
national and international level. Further, the course introduces
particular substantive rights which will be addressed more in-depth at
other courses in the program.

Learning outcome

The aim of this course is to provide students with a good understanding of human rights law, institutions and mechanisms for the protection and promotion of human rights at universal, regional and national levels. Students should be able to identify different tools for legal interpretation of key texts, problematise human rights questions in a legal context, identify key institutional mechanisms and be able to present orally and in written form arguments on human rights from a legal perspective.

Admission

Students at UiO must apply for courses in StudentWeb.

International applicants, if you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures for international applicants.

You may register for this course if you have admission to a Master's programme at UiO. All applicants must fill the formal prerequisites.
Priority is given to students on the programme Theory and Practice of Human Rights (master's two years).

The examination in this course is not available for external candidates. Only students admitted to the course may sit for the examination.

Prerequisites

Formal prerequisite knowledge

Id does not exist in shared text No obligatory prerequisites beyond the minimum requirements for entrance to higher education in Norway.

Overlapping courses

5 credits overlap with ISSJF4711 - Human Rights, 10 credits overlap with HUMR4140 - Introduction to Human Rights Law (discontinued), 5 credits overlap with JUS5710 - International Human Rights Law: Institutions and Procedures and 5 credits overlap with JUS5701 - Internasjonale menneskerettigheter.

Teaching

Lectures and eventually seminars

Access to teaching

A student who has completed compulsory instruction and coursework and has had these approved, is not entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework. A student who has been admitted to a course, but who has not completed compulsory instruction and coursework or had these approved, is entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework, depending on available capacity.

Examination

Home assignment with a maximum of 5000 words.

A mid-term paper should be handed in in the middle of the semester, with a maximum of 3500 words. Delivery of the mid-term paper is mandatory. Students who fail or do not deliver the mid-term paper will not be allowed to deliver the home assignment.

Students are awarded either a passing or a failing grade on the mid-term paper.

Use of sources and rules for citing.

Be sure that you are familiar with the use of sources and the rules for citing/quoting from others’ work
UiO uses a plagiarism checking tool as one of several instruments for detecting suspicion of cheating and attempted cheating.

Examination support material

Id does not exist in shared text

All exam resources allowed

Language of examination

Id does not exist in shared text

English

Grading scale

Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.

Explanations and appeals

You may request an explanation of your grades, and you may also appeal against your grades or make a complaint about formal examination errors. Read more about explanations and appeals.

Resit an examination

You can usually resit an exam, but the conditions depend on whether you had a valid reason for absence from the regular exam. Read more about resitting an exam.

If a student has submitted a written assignment a second time in the same course s/he can only submit it in a new version. This means that there must be another title and theme, or that the new version must be considerably changed from the first version.

Students who wish to retake the exam in a later semester must also deliver and pass the mid-term essay, even if they have submitted and passed the mid-term essay earlier. Students who wish to retake the exam in a later semester are not guaranteed that the course is ever repeated with a similar reading list, nor that the exam arrangement will be the same.

Withdrawal from an examination

A student may sit this exam up to 3 times. If a student wishes to withdraw from the exam, s/he must do so in StudentWeb at least two weeks prior to the first day of the exam. Failure to do so will be counted as one of the three opportunities to sit the exam.

Special examination arrangements

If you have a disability or a health problem that entails significant inconvenience in an examination situation, you may be considered for special examination arrangements. Mothers who are breastfeeding may apply for extra time to complete the exam.

Evaluation

Feedback from our students is essential to us in our efforts to ensure and further improve the high quality of our programmes and courses. All courses are subject to continuous evaluation. At regular intervals we also ask students on a particular course to participate in a more comprehensive, periodic evaluation of this course.