HUMR5133 – Business and Human Rights

Course content

Whilst human rights law has traditionally been binding on states, the international community has struggled to make corporations take account of their human rights responsibilities. The rise of contemporary economic globalization has changed traditional discussions on the duties of businesses to increasingly being framed in terms of human rights. During the past two decades, we have witnessed multiple legal and voluntary initiatives, civil and criminal litigations, and campaigns by civil society groups across the world to hold private economic actors responsible for human rights violations and environmental degradation.

This course starts from a perspective on human rights violations to explore responsibility and accountability of business actors under domestic and international frameworks. The students will work with practical examples, hear from experts and guest lecturers, and apply knowledge on business and human rights to current legal, political and social developments.

Learning outcome

After having completed this course the student will have acquired detailed knowledge about:

• Good knowledge of the links between business practices and human rights violations in different societal and political contexts
• Good knowledge of the arguments in favour of and against voluntary or regulatory measures for corporate behaviour
• Good knowledge of regulatory developments, including civil and criminal litigations

After having completed this course the student will have the skills to:

• Analyze and identify relevant human rights issues in corporate practice and understand how these are of practical importance to transnational and small-scale businesses
• Locate applicable source material and identify and interpret the relevant substantive rules and principles on the duties of companies to respect human rights
• Be able to critically evaluate existing human rights treaties, and existing guiding principles, on human rights and business practice 

Having completed this course the student will have the general competence to:

• Carry out case studies of human rights responsibilities of selected companies in different social, economic and political contexts.
• Assess the impact of human rights advocacy on corporate practice.
• Understand the practices and impact of different strategies of remedy and compensation.
• Evaluate a business actor’s responsibility for respecting human rights.

Admission to the course

You may register for this course if you have admission to a Master’s programme at UiO or the faculty's exchange programme and meet the formal prerequisites.

Have you met the formal prerequisites at another institution than the University of Oslo, and the results are not formally registered at UiO, you must apply for admission to courses at Master’s level (information in Norwegian only). Students with admission to Master’s degree programmes at other faculties than The Faculty of Law must also apply for admission. For more information see guest student status.

All students are required to meet the formal prerequisites. Priority is given to students of the Master of Philopsophy programme in the Theory and Practice of Human Rights.

Teaching

Lectures and seminars with active student participation. 

Examination

Students are graded on the basis of a written home exam submission.

Maximum length for written home exam is 5000 words. Front page, contents page (optional) and bibliography are not included. If footnotes are used in the text (at the bottom of each page), they are included in the word limits. 

Papers that exceed the word limit will not be accepted.

You must familiarize yourself with the rules that apply to exam support materials, and the use of sources and citations. If you violate these rules, you may be suspected of cheating or attempted cheating. You can read about what the university considers cheating, and the consequences of cheating here.

Examination support material

All available exam resources are allowed when answering this exam. Rules for source referencing are crucial for determining whether the use of resources is permitted.

Your exam paper must be an independent work. Exam candidates are not permitted to communicate with other persons about the exam question(s) or distribute draft answers or exam answers.

Language of examination

The examination text is given in English, and you submit your response in 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.

Marking criteria

This guide is used by examiners for grading this course.

Resit an examination

It is possible to take this exam up to 3 times. If you withdraw from the exam after the deadline or during the exam, this will be counted as an examination attempt. 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.

• Illness at exams / postponed exams
• Resitting an examination.

More about examinations at UiO

• Use of sources and citations
• Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
• Withdrawal from an exam
• Illness at exams / postponed exams
• Explanation of grades and appeals
• Resitting an exam
• Cheating/attempted cheating

You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.