Degree | Type | Year |
---|---|---|
2503778 International Relations | OT | 4 |
You can view this information at the end of this document.
VERY IMPORTANT !!!!
1) A high level of english is required to be able to follow the classes which will be entirely in english. It will be also necessary a certain level of spanish to be able to interact in group work with other students
2) ALL written paper or exercise submitted must include the sources from where the information was extracted (bibliography and references). Non-inclusion will lower the grade
3) THE EVALUATION METHOD IS CONTINUOUS AND THEREFORE ATTENDANCE TO THE SESSIONS IS MANDATORY
NOTE: the compulsory readings to prepare the sessions, as well as the topics and / or questions will be announced at the virtual campus (moodle). All documentation will be in English.
HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL CRIMES
2022-23
PART ONE: GENERAL FRAMEWORK
Topic 1 (introductory): The individual in front of the international system
• Some misunderstandings about international society and its legal system
• The main actors at the international level and their role in the development of international standards
• Individuals. From object to subject in the international system?
Topic 2: Conceptualization, synergies and differences of international regimes that directly address the individual and their integration in Public International Law
• The regimes of Ius in bello and Ius ad bellum until the world wars
• The transformation of the international legal system towards people after the 2nd World War:
a) From Ius in bello to current International Humanitarian Law (IHL)
b) The birth of International Criminal Law (DPI) and International Human Rights Law (IHRL): rights and obligations of individuals in the international sphere.
• Distinction, coexistence and synergies between regimes:
a) international protection of human rights
b) international humanitarian law
c) international criminal law
d) international criminal cooperation
Topic 3: The different nature of responsibility for the violation of human rightsand for the commission of international crimes
• The distinction between persecution mechanisms (for crimes) and protection mechanisms (for human rights): two independent but complementary courses of action
• Human Rights: From recognition to international protection. Evolution and political logic behind existing mechanisms
• International Criminal Law: from impunity to (limited) prosecution. Evolution and political interests behind existing mechanisms
Topic 4: The determination of the victim in the face of international crimes and/or human rights violations
• The different conceptions of the victim and their relationship with the locus standi to obtain reparation
• International principles on reparation for human rights violations: definition, characteristics and evolution.
• Differences and similarities between victims of human rights violations and international crimes.
SECOND PART: THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARDIZATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Topic 5: Origin and evolution of the international standardization of Human Rights
• Background: the passage from the domestic sphere to its internationalization. The role of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• Universal conventional crystallization: the PDCyP and the PDESC
• The uneven regional crystallization: comparison of (in)existent regimes
Topic 6: The development of some specific rights at the universal level
• The map of specific rights recognized (and protected) conventionally
• The relevance of the geopolitical context in the development of certain human rights at the international level
• The material content of the rights developed at the international level
• Towards a cristalization of a new generation of humanrights?
Topic 7: The uneven development of some specific rights at the regional level
• The map of specific rights conventionally recognized (and protected) at the regional level
• The relevance of the geopolitical context in its development
• Comparison of the material content of regionally developed rights among themselves and with the univeral regime.
PART THREE: INTERNATIONAL CRIMES
Topic 8: Difficulties surrounding the crime of Genocide
• The concept of genocide: The 1948 Convention
• The specificity of the crime of genocide
• Evolution: the role played by Jurisprudential practice
Topic 9: The special case of crime against humanity
• The origin and nature of the crime against humanity
• The concept of crime against humanity: general characteristics and the evolution of its specific subtypes
• Crime against humanity in practice: the importance of jurisprudence
Topic 10: War crimes today
• What is and what is not a war crime?
• The importance of the concept of "armed conflict" and individual international responsibility for determining the crime
• Prosecution of war crimes: jurisprudential practice.
Topic 11: The dual nature of the crime of aggression
• The concept of aggression in International Law: the distinction between State aggression and the crime of aggression
• Difficulties surrounding the definition of the crime of aggression
• The current status of the crime of aggression
FOURTH PART. MECHANISMS FOR THE INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Topic 12: Non-jurisdictional protection mechanisms for human rights
•Universal control mechanisms
• Universal protection mechanisms
• Regional control and protection mechanisms and their comparison with the universal ones
Topic 13: Jurisdictional protection mechanisms for human rights
• The absence of universal direct jurisdictional mechanisms
• Regional jurisdictional mechanisms: ECHR; IACHR; ACHR
• The role of domestic jurisdictions
PART FIVE: THE MECHANISMS FOR PROSECUTING INTERNATIONAL CRIMES
Topic 14: The ad hoc international judicial solution: Ad hoc tribunals and hybrid tribunals
• The importance of the sociopolitical framework for the creation of ad hoc and hybrid courts
• General characteristics of ad hoc tribunals and differences in relation with hybrids tribunals
• The practice (ad hoc tribunals v. hybrid tribunals?)
Topic 15: The permanent international proposal: The International Criminal Court
• Origin, nature and structure of the ICC
• Limited jurisdiction and its jurisprudence: from the beginning to the present
• Victims at the ICC:
a) The presence of victims at the ICC
b) Reparation vs. assistance to the ICC: the role of the Trust Fund
c) The practice
Topic 16: The prosecution of international crimes in domestic systems and transitional justice: case studies
• Conceptual problems regarding the prosecution of those responsible for international crimes:
a) The debate in society about justice and/or peace
b) therole of "responsibility to protect"
c) The conflict between the immunities regime, impunity and the duty to prosecute
d) Pros & cons of universal jurisdiction
c) Transitional justice as an ad hoc tipology of justice: concept and purpose
• The recognition/non-recognition of international crimes in domestic legislations; its regulatory status and the obligation to process
• The role of international human rights courts in domestic legal action
• The practice
Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
---|---|---|---|
Type: Directed | |||
Class participation | 26 | 1.04 | 11, 2, 8, 31, 9, 17, 33, 24, 19, 23, 29, 27, 25, 26, 10, 13 |
Class, pactivities and seminars | 60 | 2.4 | 5, 3, 4, 2, 1, 7, 31, 9, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 29, 28, 25, 26 |
Type: Supervised | |||
Preparation and presentation, poster | 8 | 0.32 | 6, 8, 31, 9, 18, 17, 21, 23, 29, 27, 25, 30 |
Research (using as a primary source a case law decision/official report) | 21 | 0.84 | 5, 3, 2, 1, 7, 31, 15, 17, 24, 21, 22, 23, 28, 25, 12, 13 |
tutorial | 7 | 0.28 | |
Type: Autonomous | |||
Book | 8 | 0.32 | 6, 9, 14, 17, 29, 28, 26, 30, 10, 12 |
class preparation | 20 | 0.8 | 3, 4, 7, 15, 17, 16, 29, 28, 26, 30, 12, 13 |
COURSE PROGRESS
The subject is entirely continuous assessment. This means that each week the student must have prepared the session in advance using the recommended readings in the Moodle and or the scheduled activities. Hence, in each session there will be a verification of the preparation. Also the first week of class the students will be distribute in permanent working groups for the development of certain activities.
There will be presentations by groups - of five minutes each - with the help of a poster (NO PP) designed for the occasion. The presentations will serve to help to bring theoretical concepts closer to practice. Therefore, after the presentations, a round of questions and debate will be open around the key concepts.
On the other hand, at the end of each of the three blocks of the syllabus [general (part I), material (parts II and III) and procedural (parts IV and V)], a comprehensive activity will be carried out with real or invented assumptions of facts to ensure that the knowledge worked up until then has been achieved.
In addition, throughout the course, each student must carry out an investigation inspired by a court ruling or an official report. For the development of the research, the student, with the tutoring of the teaching staff, must ask him/herself a question that he/she must answer. The research question and structure will require prior teacher’s approval. This activity will be evaluated in class through a brief exam based on the findings of the investigation (60%), as well as an outline that has to be presented the week before (40%). This paper has to include the structure, the bibliography used, a glossary of the key concepts covered and a final evaluative opinion paragraphas a conclusion.
Finally, in the first third of the course group seminars will be scheduled in the Department’s office during tutoring hours to discuss the book chosen as compulsory reading.
Students are reminded that, given the proposed methodology, the ACTIVE participation continuously throughout the course (NOT the mere presence in class) is essential and will, therefore, be a fundamental part of the final grade.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
---|---|---|---|---|
ACTIVITIES AT THE END OF EACH BLOC (preparation and participation) | 15% of final grade | 0 | 0 | 3, 4, 2, 31, 9, 24, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 29, 27, 25 |
CLASS PARTICIPATION | 5% of final grade | 0 | 0 | 11, 31, 9, 16, 19, 27, 25, 30, 12, 13 |
LITERARY SEMINAR | 10% of final grade | 0 | 0 | 5, 3, 6, 31, 9, 16, 27, 25, 10, 12, 13 |
POSTER | 15% | 0 | 0 | 3, 18, 15, 33, 19, 23, 29, 27, 25, 26, 30, 32, 12 |
Preparation of the sessions | 25% of final grade | 0 | 0 | 1, 7, 31, 9, 17, 33, 29, 28, 27, 30, 12, 13 |
RESEARCH (30% final grade) | 30% | 0 | 0 | 5, 2, 1, 8, 7, 9, 18, 14, 15, 19, 29, 28, 26, 30, 10 |
EVALUABLE ACTIVITIES
1.- RESEARCH. (30% of the final grade) Preparation of a theoretical review research. To determine the topic, structure and question to be analyzed, it is essential to have previously had the approval of the teaching staff.
Students must submit a written research data sheet with their findings one week before the written test. The technical file and all the works in general, can be delivered in Spanish, Catalan or English.
NOTE: to be considered evaluable, the research must obtain a grade higher than 3.6
The criteria from which the research will be scored are: Technical file (50%) + written exam (50%)
score |
concept |
0.5 |
Structure |
0,5 |
Bibliography |
1 |
Application and management of the concepts worked on throughout the course |
1 |
Final evaluative conclusions |
1 |
Strictness |
6 |
Written exam |
10 |
TOTAL |
3.- COMPREHENSIVE PRACTICAL SESSIONS (preparation and participation) (15% of the final grade).
There will be 3 assessable practices (5% each) that will correspond to the end of each thematic block (part I; parts II & III; parts IV & V). The specific details of each practice will be specified on campus.
4.- POSTER.(15% of the final grade). Preparation and oral presentation with the help of a poster (10%) + active participation the other students’ presentations (5%)
At the beginning of the course, it will be possible to choose -or it will be assigned- a real situation or case that must be presented to the rest of the class by explaining a poster. As the course progresses, the concepts that have been worked on should be integrated. The poster and the presentation will account for 10% of the final grade and will be evaluated independently of the questions and debate session that will be opened from the presentations. The other 5% will correspond to the quality of the participation, questions and interventions that each person makes as an audience in the other presentations.
5.- LITERARY SEMINAR. (10% of the final grade). Reading, file and participation in a thematic seminar on ONE of the following books:
a) East-West Street. On the origins of genocide and crimes against humanity. Philippe Sands, Weindenfeld & Nicolson, London, 2016 (387 pp.) (Historical Essay. The legal gestation of international crimes: Nazism and the crimes of Genocide and Crime against Humanity)
b) Half of a Yellow Sun. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Collins, 2007 (448 pp.) (Historical novel set in Africa: the Biafran war 1967-70)
c) The Reader, Bernhard Schlink, Random House, 2011 (224 pages) (romantic novel with historical content, Nazism) + Small Country, Gael Faye, Random House, 2019 (194 pages) (historical novel that tells the childhood of a boy in the middle of genocide gestation)
6.- PARTICIPATION IN THE CLASSES (5% of the final grade).
The active attitude of the student and the interventions throughout the sessions (in English or Spanish) will represent 5% of the final grade. Attention: the mere "attendance" or "presence" in class without contributions IS NOT participation.
Warning:
1) The copying of works among the students will be scored with a 0 of that part of the evaluation for the people involved.
2) Students who plagiarize or use AI for their practices, comments or work will be rated with a "0" final grade for the course, and therefore without the right to re-evaluation.
3) The NON participatation in at least 80% of the weekly class tests will imply that the student will be considered non-evaluable due to lack of presence in class.
Re-evaluation (pass / fail):
For students who have not obtained a minimum grade of 5 during the course, but have obtained more than 4, there is the possibility of an exam that will take place on the date assigned by the faculty for the re-evaluation.
The structure of the exam will be 10 short questions related to the contents of the course and the maximum final grade that can be obtained from the subject will be 6.5
Basic Legislation:
International Criminal Law
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court & Elements of the Crime. Adopted by the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court on 17 July 1998, UN-Dok. A/Conf. 183/9.
Basic Principles and Guidelines on the right to a remedy and reparation for victims of gross violations of IHRL and serious violations of IHL, Res. 60/147, 16 December 2005 https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/remedyandreparation.aspx
International Human Rights Law
Universal Treaties: https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/coreinstruments.aspx
European Convention for the protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/ESCR/Pages/RegionalHRTreaties.aspx
American Convention on Human Rights https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/ESCR/Pages/RegionalHRTreaties.aspx
African Charter on human and Peoples Rights https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/ESCR/Pages/RegionalHRTreaties.aspx
Other Legislation:
Webs:
International Organisations and Related Human Rights and ICL Websites:
United Nations Human Rights Council
United Nations Special Procedures
United Nations Security Council
United Nations Economic and Social Council
International Labour Organisation (LBO), Geneva, Switzerland
OHCHR United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
United Nations Commission for the Status of Women
Un High Commissioner for Refugees, Geneva, Switzerland
UN Division for the Advancement of Women
OHCHR International Law Link to UN Human Rights instruments
www.echr.coe.int/hudoc.htm The European Court of Human Rights Case law
Non-Governmental Organizations:
Global Rights A human rights advocacy group that partners with local activists to challenge injustice and amplify new voices within the global discourse
Human Rights Watch A global independent organization dedicated to defending and protecting human rights.
Amnesty International A global charity which campaigns for internationally recognised human rights for all
Save the Children International Charity which campaigns on behalf of children
The International Committee of the Red Cross An organisation dedicated to the protection of the lives and dignity of victims of armed conflict and other violence.
Index on Censorship Organisation promoting freedomof expression
Minority Rights Group, International International organisation working to secure the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples
World Organisation against Torture A coalition of non-governmental organisations fighting against torture, summary executions and other inhumane treatment
www.iccnow.org/ coalition for the International Criminal Court coalition of non-governmental organizations lobbying in favour of the ICC
International Women's Rights Action Watch (IWRAW) organized in 1985 at the Third World Conference on Women in Nairobi, Kenya, to promote recognition of women’s human rights under the United Nation’s Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (the CEDAW Convention), an international human rights treaty
Freedom House Independent nongovernmental organization that supports the expansion of freedom in the world.
http://www.bayefsky.com/bystate.php This free website includes an extensive documents library organized by country and subject matter. You can find information on ratification, reservations and declarations, state reports, and other key documents.
Bibliography:
General International Public Law:
Brownlie,Ian, Principles of Public International Law. 5. Aufl. Oxford 1998.
Simma, Bruno, International Human Rights Law and General International Law: A Comparative Analysis. In: Academy of European Law (Hrsg.), Collected courses of the Academy ofEuropean Law.Vol. IV (1995), Book 2, S. 153-236.
Rehman, Javaid. International human rights law (2nd. Edition), Pearson education ltd. Harlow, 2009
Oliver De Schutter. International Human Rights Law (3rd edition, Cambridge University Press, 2019
Ilias Bantekas and Lutz Oette, International Human Rights Law and Practice, Cambridge University Press, 2020
International Criminal Law:
Akhavan, P. “The core elements of international crimes” in Reducing Genocide to Law: Definition, Meaning and the Ultimate Crime, Cambridge University Press, 2012, pp. 27-55.
Ambos y Wirth. “The Current Law of Crimes against Humanity”, Crim. L. F., nº., 13, 2002, pp. 1, 2-13.
Arsanjani. “The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, AJIL, nº. 93, 1999, pp. 22 ss
Askin. “Crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC”, en Crim. L.F., nº., 10, 1999
Barboza. “International Criminal Law”, Receuil des Cours, nº. 278, 1999, pp. 9, 59;
Bassiouni. Crimes against Humanity in International Criminal Law, 2ª ed., 1999
Boot, Genocide, Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes nullum Crimen sine Lege and the Subject Matter Jurisdiction of the ICC, 2002, par. 415 ss
Cassese, A. International Criminal Law, 2nd ed., Oxford University Press, 2008.
Clark. “Crimes against humanity and the Rome Statute”, Clark, Feldbrugge, Pomorski (eds.). Essays in Honour of George Ginsbugs, 2001, pp. 139, 15
De Hoogh. “Articles 4 and 8 of the 2001 ILC Articles on State Responsability…”, BYIL,nº. 72, 2001/2002, pp. 255.
Gómez-Benítez. “Elementos comunes de los crímenes contra la humanidad en el Estatuto de la CPI…”, Cuadernos de Derecho Judicial, Escuela Judicial, Consejo General del Poder Judicial, vol. VII, 2001,
Guifoyle, Douglas, International Criminal Law, Oxford Univ. Press, 2016
Human Rights Watch, “Commentary on the 4th Preparatory Commission meeting for the ICC”, march, 2000
Human Rights Watch, Genocide, War Crimes, Crimes against Humanity: Topical digest of the case law of the ICTR and ICTY, New York et al. 2004.
Kress. “War crimes committed in non-international armed conflict and the emerging system of international criminal justice”, Isr. Y.B. Hum. Rts., nº. 30, 2000, pp. 103 ss
Lee (ed.). The International Criminal Court – Elements of Crimes and Rules of Procedure and Evidence, 2001
McAuliffe de Guzmán, Margaret (2000). “The Road from Rome: The Developing Law of Crimes against Humanity”, Human Rights Quarterly (HRQ) 22 (2000), pgs. 335-403.
Meron, Theodor (1995). “International Criminalization of Internal Atrocities”, American Journal of International Law (AJIL) 89, pgs. 554 - 577.
Mettraux. “Crimes against Humanity in the Jurisprudence of the ICTY and ICTR”, Harv. Int’l. J., nº. 43, 2002, pp. 237, 302-6;
Momtaz. “War crimes in non-international armed conflicts under the Statute of the International Criminal Court”, Y.B. Int’l Humanit. L., nº. 2, 1999, pp. 177,
Ntanda Nsereko, en McDonald y Swaak-Goldman. Substantive and Procedural Aspects of International Criminal Law, vol. I, 2000, pp. 113 ss
O’Keefe, R. “State Immunity and Human Rights: Heads andWalls, Hearts and Minds”, Vaderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, 2011, Vol 45, pp. 999-1045
Olásolo, Hector, Int. Criminal Law Review (ICLR) 5 (2005), 122,
Overy, R. “The Nuremberg Trials: international criminal law in the making”, in P Sands (ed.), From Nuremberg to the Hague: The Future of International Criminal Justice,Cambridge University Press, 2003, pp. 1-29
Quenivet,Ind.J. Int’l L., nº., 41, 2001, p. 478.
Ratner. “The Genocide Convention after fifty years”, ASIL Proceedings, nº, 92, 1998,
Robinson, D. “Serving the Interests of Justice: Amnesties, Truth Commissions and the International Criminal Court”, en European Journal of International Law, num. 14,2003, 481 y ss.
Robinson. “Defining crimes against Humanity at the Rome Conference”, AJIL, nº, 93,1999,
SANCHEZ, J. Inter-American Court, Crimes Against Humanity and Peacebuilding in South America. ICIP, WP 2010/2, http://www20.gencat.cat/docs/icip/Continguts/Publicacions/WorkingPapers/Arxius/WP10_2_ANG.pdf
Sandesh Sivakumaran, “Identifying an armed conflict not of an international character” in The Emerging Practice of the International Criminal Court, C. Stahn and G. Sluiter (ed.), Martinus Nijhoff, 2009, pp. 363-380
Schaack, Beth Van, “The Definition of Crimes against Humanity: Resolving the Incoherence”, Columbia Journal of Transnational Law (ColJTL) 37 (1999), pgs. 787-850.
Schabas, W. An Introduction to the International Criminal Court, 4rd ed., Cambridge University Press, 2011
Schabas, W. “Judicial Activism and the Crime of Genocide” in Darcy and Powderly (ed.), Judicial Creativity at the International Criminal Tribunals, Oxford University Press, 2010, pp. 63-79
Schabas. “Follow up to Rome: preparing for entry into force of the international Criminal Court Statute, Hum. Rts. L. J., nº. 20, 1999, pp. 157 ss
Sharga, D. “The Second Generation UN-Based Tribunals: A Diversity of Mixed Jurisdictions” in C. Romano, A. Nollkaemper, J. Kleffner (ed.), Internationalized Criminal Courts, Oxford University Press, 2004, pp. 15-38.
Simma, Bruno / Paulus, Andreas, The Responsibility of Individuals for Human Rights Abuses in Internal Conflicts: A Positivist View. AJIL 93 (1999), S. 302-316.
Sunga, “The Crimes within the Jurisdiction of the ICC” (part II, arts. 5-10), Eur. J. Crime Cr. L. Cr. J., nº. 6, 1998, pp. 377-399
Triffterer. “Genocide, its particular intent to destroy in whole or in part the group as such”, Leid. Journ. Int’l. L., nº. 14, 2001, pp. 399 y ss.
International Law of Human Rights
Marie-Bénédicte Dembour, ‘What Are Human Rights? Four Schools of Thought’ (2010) 32(1), Human Rights Quarterly
Anna Grear, ‘‘Framing the project’ of international human rights law: reflectionson the dysfunctional ‘family’ of the Universal Declaration’ in Conor Gearty and Costas Douzinas (eds),
The Cambridge Companion to Human Rights Law (CUP,2012), 17-35
Mark Goodale, ‘The Myth of Universality: The UNESCO “Philosophers’Committee” and the Making of Human Rights’ (2018) 43(3) Law & Social Inquiry 596
Lorenzo Cotula, ‘Between Hope and Critique: Human Rights, Social Justice and Re-Imagining International Law from the Bottom Up’ (forthcoming, 2020) 48(2) Georgia JournalofInternational and Comparative Law.
Mavronicola, ‘Redistributing Punishment: The Limited Vision of Coercive HumanRights’ (EJIL: Talk!, 2020). Available at: https://www.ejiltalk.org/redistributing-punishment-the-limited-vision-of-coercive-human-rights/
See the Virtual Campus (moodle)
Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
---|---|---|---|---|
(PAUL) Classroom practices | 1 | English | second semester | morning-mixed |
(TE) Theory | 1 | English | second semester | morning-mixed |