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International Protection of Human Rights

Code: 102255 ECTS Credits: 3
2025/2026
Degree Type Year
Law OB 4

Contact

Name:
Patricia Fernanda Gonzalez Prado
Email:
patricia.gonzalez@uab.cat

Teachers

Alexandre Moreno Urpi
Manuela Hock Medina
Patricia Toro Lozano
Luisa Pilar Moreno Cuerva
Sonnia Güell Peris
Rocio Medina Martin
Marc Abraham Puig Hernandez
Bárbara Lirios Monllor Taltavull
Maria Querol Guillen
Lorena del Pilar Garrido Jimenez
Maria Barcons Campmajo

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

The course will be taught with consideration of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework.

In this course, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is permitted as an integral part of the assignment, provided that the final result reflects a significant contribution by the student in the analysis and personal reflection. Students must clearly identify which parts were generated with this technology, specify the tools used, and include a critical reflection on how they influenced the process and final outcome of the assignment. Lack of transparency in the use of AI will be considered a breach of academic honesty and may result in a penalty on the assignment grade, or greater sanctions in serious cases.

Group 1 (Spanish)

Lectures: Patricia González Prado (Spanish) and Manuela Hock Medina (Spanish).
Seminars: Maria Barcons (Spanish), Patricia González (Spanish), Lorena Garrido (Spanish), Manuela Hock (Spanish), and lecturers to be determined.

Group 2 (English)

Lectures: Bàrbara Monllor and Alex Moreno.
Seminars: Bàrbara Monllor, Marc Puig, and lecturer to be determined.

Group 51 (Catalan/Spanish)

Lectures: Luisa Moreno (Catalan) and Patricia Toro (Catalan).
Seminars: Bàrbara Monllor, Luisa Moreno, Rocío Medina, Patricia Toro, Maria Querol, and lecturer to be determined.

Group 70 (Spanish)

Lectures: Marc Puig and Sonnia Güell.
Seminars: Marc Puig, Bàrbara Monllor, Manuela Hock, and Sonnia Güell.

 


Objectives and Contextualisation

Learning Objectives

  • Understand how different classical and critical theories of justice approach and respond to human rights conflicts.
  • Develop critical perspectives for reflecting on the role of human rights, their enshrinement, and the guarantees that protect them against potential violations.
  • Acquire knowledge of the mechanisms for the protection of human rights as an expression of equality before the law.
  • Become familiar with the theoretical tools necessary to understand the significance and impact of human rights and their connection to the rule of law.
  • Gain a foundational understanding of key theoretical aspects of international and constitutional human rights law, in order to provide instruments for addressing their practical application.
  • Acquire basic knowledge of the concepts of human rights, their historical development, justification, and evolution from a critical and reflective perspective.
  • Explore real judicial cases where the scope and characteristics of human rights protection have been debated.
  • Understand the limits and opportunities of human rights and their protection as a tool for legal equality.

Competences

  • Apprehending the necessary mechanisms in order to know, assess, and apply the legislative reforms as well as to follow the changes produced in a concrete subject.
  • Arguing and laying the foundation for the implementation of legal standards.
  • Demonstrating a sensible and critical reasoning: analysis, synthesis, conclusions.
  • Identifying and solving problems.
  • Identifying, assessing and putting into practice changes in jurisprudence.
  • Identifying, knowing and applying the basic and general principles of the legal system.
  • Identifying the underlying conflicts of interest in disputes and real cases.
  • Integrating the importance of Law as a regulatory system of social relations.
  • Managing bibliographic and documentary resources: databases, browsing, etc.
  • Memorising and utilising legal terminology.
  • Present information in a way that is appropriate to the type of audience.
  • Students must be capable of demonstrating the unitary nature of the legal system and of the necessary interdisciplinary view of legal problems.
  • Students must be capable of learning autonomously and having an entrepreneurial spirit.
  • Using the main constitutional principles and values as a working tool in the interpretation of the legal system.
  • Working in multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary fields.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Applying an interdisciplinary and integrated vision of the legal problems in an international environment.
  2. Assessing legislative changes and reforms in a context of plurality of systems.
  3. Assessing the underlying conflicts of interest in the legal problems proposed in an international environment.
  4. Building a legal reasoning or discourse in the field of Public International Law, Private International Law and European Union Law.
  5. Demonstrating a sensible and critical reasoning: analysis, synthesis, conclusions.
  6. Identifying and assessing the changes and evolution of jurisprudence in a context of plurality of systems.
  7. Identifying and knowing the basic contents of every stipulated speciality.
  8. Identifying and solving problems.
  9. Integrating the importance of Law as a regulatory system of social relations, and the contextualisation of the legal phenomenon in the international environment.
  10. Managing bibliographic and documentary resources: databases, browsing, etc.
  11. Memorising and using the specific terminology of Public International Law, Private International Law and European Union Law.
  12. Present information in a way that is appropriate to the type of audience.
  13. Students must be capable of learning autonomously and having an entrepreneurial spirit.
  14. Using the constitutional values as a criterion for interpretation and solution of conflicts, specially in case of a contradiction between the main fundamental principles of several legal systems.
  15. Working in multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary fields.

Content

PART ONE: THEORIES OF JUSTICE AND THE RECOGNITION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

I Block. CLASSICAL AND LIBERAL THEORIES

1. Human Rights in Utilitarianism

2. Human Rights in Egalitarian Liberalism

3. Human Rights in Libertarianism and Neoliberalism

4. Human Rights in Communitarian Theories

 II Block. CRITICAL THEORIES

 1. Feminist Critical Perspectives and Human Rights

2. Human Rights from Intersectional and Decolonial Critical Perspectives

 

SECOND PART (III & IV)

III Block: THE MECHANISMS OF UNIVERSAL PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS:

1.- Non-jurisdictional universal mechanisms for the protection of Human Rights

2.- Universal jurisdictional mechanisms for the protection of Human Rights

3.- The performance of the International Criminal Tribunals

IV Block: THE MECHANISMS OF REGIONAL PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

1.- Non-jurisdictional regional mechanisms for the protection of Human Rights. Inter-American System for the Protection of Human Rights and other regional systems

2.- Jurisdictional regional Mencanismes for the protection of Human Rights. The action of the European Court of Human Rights, the performance of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights

3.- The protection of Human Rights within the framework of the European Union


Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
master class 11 0.44 1, 5, 10, 6, 9, 15, 2, 3
Practice session 11 0.44 1, 4, 5, 10, 7, 6, 8, 15, 14, 3
Type: Supervised      
Tutorials 10 0.4 1, 4, 5, 10, 8, 13
Type: Autonomous      
previous working for sessions 14.34 0.57 4, 7, 6, 11, 8, 15, 2
reading texts and documents 16.66 0.67 7, 6, 13, 15, 2, 3
Study 9 0.36 4, 7, 9, 11, 12, 8, 13, 14

The sessions of blocks I and II will alternate between theoretical classes (3) and practical sessions (3). The sessions of block III will be arranged into theoretical (2) and practical (1) sessions. Finally, the sessions of block IV will be divided into theoretical (1) and practical (2) sessions.
The practical sessions will be characterized by the study of a previously prepared case following a reading guide, which will be the subject of face-to-face debate. Class attendance is an essential requirement for continuous assessment, which students will have to take into account when calculating the course load. In addition to classroom hours, students will also have to dedicate part of their time to reading texts and preparing for sessions.
PS: 15 minutes of a class will be reserved for the students to complete the surveys to assess the performance of the teaching staff and the subject, within the calendar established by the faculty/degree.

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.


Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Active participation in class: part I and II 5% 0 0 1, 4, 5, 10, 7, 8, 14
Active participation in class: part III and IV 5% 0 0 4, 5, 10, 7, 6, 11, 8, 14, 3
Activities regarding Part III and IV (3 x 15% each) 45% 1.5 0.06 1, 4, 5, 9, 11, 8, 3
Written in-person test (blocks I & II) 45% 1.5 0.06 1, 4, 5, 6, 9, 12, 8, 13, 15, 2, 3

For the continuous evaluation, the final grade is:

- 50% blocks I and II + 50% blocks III and IV = 100% of the grade.

- To make the average of each block, the minimum mark will be 4.

 

The final grade for the single assessment will be completed on the exam date.

- 25% first activity + 25% second activity + 50% common test Exam.

 

Students who fail to pass the subject (those who achieve a score of less than 4 in one of the two parts or whose average does not reach the minimum of 5) will be required to retake the failed part by taking a test on the day designated for second-chance exam.

Cheating in an exam or test, or using any tool (smartwatch, GPT Chat, computers, mobiles, etc.) will result in a "0" on the test and fail the subject. Students who present a practice or activity in which there is plagiarism will receive a zero and will receive a warning. If the behaviour is repeated, the student will fail the subject.

Active participation of the students is essential for the proper functioning of the subject and is a very relevant element in the evaluation. For this reason, regular and punctual attendance at the face-to-face sessions is required, including reading the bibliography required for each session, participating in the debates, and preparing the activities indicated for each topic.

 The evaluation of blocks I and II will comprise a written test (45%) and active participation in classes (5%).

Three practical activities will be evaluated for blocks III and IV (45%), as well as class participation (5%).

Students will be assessable as long as they have completed a set ofactivities whose weight is equivalent to a minimum of 2/3 of the total grade for the subject. If the value of the activities carried out does not reach this threshold, the subject teacher may consider the student as "non-evaluable". In case of continuous assessment, the same non-evaluable criterion will be applied as for continuous assessment.


Bibliography

First Part

Required bibliography

CRENSHAW Kimberling (1991) Cartografiando los márgenes. Interseccionalidad, políticas identitarias, y violencia contra las mujeres de color.

GARGARELLA, Roberto (1999). Las teorías de la justicia después de Rawls. Paidós: Barcelona.

NUSSBAUM Martha (2007) Las Fronteras de la justicia : consideraciones sobre la exclusión, Paidós

PATEMAN Carole,(1988) El contrato sexual, Anthropos

RAWLS John (2da ed., 1995)Teoría de la Justicia Fondo de Cultura Económica.

SANDEL, Michael J. (2011). Justicia: ¿hacemos lo que debemos? Debate: Barcelona.

YOUNG  Iris Marion (2011). Responsabilidad por la justícia, eLibro Cátedra España

 

Complementary bibliography:

AÑÓN, M.ª José (2013). "Principio antidiscriminatorio y determinación de la desventaja". Isonomía: Revista de teoría y filosofía del derecho, n.ª 39. https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=7135100&orden=0&info=link

La BARBERA, M.ª Caterina (2017). "Interseccionalidad = Intersectionality". EUNOMÍA. Revista en Cultura de la Legalidad, n.º 12. https://e-revistas.uc3m.es/index.php/EUNOM/article/view/3651/2221

BOBBIO, Norberto (2024). Teoría de la justicia. Tirant lo Blanch: Argentina.

BOAVENTURA DE SOUSA SANTOS (2018) Introducción a las epistemologías del sur, CLACSO

Disponible en https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvnp0k5d.4?seq=1

BODELÓN, Encarna (2010): "Derecho y Justicia no androcéntricos", en Quaderns de Psicologia, Nº 12. Disponible en: http://www.quadernsdepsicologia.cat/article/view/815

DAVIS ÁNGELA (Ed 20222) Mujeres, Raza y Clase, Ediciones Akal.

FERRAJOLI, Luigi (2019). Manifiesto por la igualdad. Trotta: Madrid. FERRAJOLI, Luigi (2020). Iura Paria. Trotta: Madrid.

FERRAJOLI, Luigi (2022). Por una Constitución de la Tierra. Trotta: Madrid.

GONZALEZ PRADO, Patricia (2021) De la autonomía personal a la sexual, una necesaria ruptura de abstracciones, Anuario de Filosofía del Derecho, (XXXVII), pp. 197-227 https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=8060140

NOZICK, R., Anarquía, Estado y Utopía (FCE 1988)

RODRÍGUEZ PALOP, M.ª Eugenia (2018). La multiplicación de derechos y la visión generacional, en Revista Papeles de relaciones ecosociales y cambio global, Nº. 142 págs. 31-41 https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=6524886

SANDEL, Michael J.(2021). La tiranía del mérito: ¿qué ha sido del bien común? Debate: Barcelona.

 

 Second Part

ABELLÁN HONRUBIA, Victoria. 1998. La internacionalización del concepto y contenido de los derechos humanos. En: Tres lecciones magistrales: inauguración de los cursos 1995-1996, 1996-1997, 1997-1998, pp. 33-53. Barcelona: Marcial Pons.

Andrés Sáenz de Santa María, Paz, 2011, Sistema de derecho internacional público, Civitas Thomson Reuters, Madrid.

BONET PÉREZ, Jordi y SÁNCHEZ, Victor M. (coordinadores). 2008. Derechos Humanos. Barcelona: Huygens.

CARRILLO SALCEDO, Juan Antonio. 2001. Soberanía de los Estados y Derechos Humanos en Derecho internacional contemporáneo. 2ª edición, Madrid: Tecnos.

CARRILLO SALCEDO, Juan Antonio. 2003. El ConvenioEuropeo de Derechos Humanos. Madrid: Tecnos.

FERNÁNDEZ DE CASADEVANTE, Carlos (Coord.). 2007. Derecho Internacional de los Derechos Humanos, 3ª edición, Madrid: Ed. DILEX, S.L.

GREER, S. C. 2006. The European Convention on Human Rights: achievements, problems and prospects, Cambridge: Cambridge U. Press.

GÓMEZ ISA, Felipe (director). 2004. La protección internacional de los derechos humanos en los albores del siglo XXI, pp. 23-60, Bilbao: Humanitarian Net / Universidad de Deusto.

GÓMEZ ISA, F.; FEYTER, Koen de (eds.). 2009. International human rights law in a globalcontext. Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto.

HARRIS, D. J. 2009. Law of the European Convention on Human Rights. 2nd. edition,  Oxford: Oxford U. Press, Oxford. 

NIKKEN, Pedro. 1987. La protección internacional de los Derechos Humanos: su desarrollo progresivo. Madrid: Editorial Civitas/Instituto Interamericano de Derechos Humanos.

PASTOR RIDRUEJO, José Antonio. 1989. La protección de los derechos humanos en las Naciones Unidas: aspectos humanitarios y políticos. En: Cursos de Derecho Internacional de Vitoria-Gasteiz. Bilbao: Servicio Editorial de la Universidaddel País Vasco.

PIÑOL RULL, Joan, 2000,  Dret internacional públic, UOC, Barcelona.

VILLAN DURAN, Carlos. 2002. Curso de Derechos Humanos.Madrid: Trotta.

Links de interés:

Documentación de naciones Unidas:

https://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/spanish/resguids/spechrsp.htm

Cuadro de normas y mecanismospara la Protección de los Derechos Humanos

http://www.derechoshumanos.net

Legislación UE

http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/human_rights/index_es.htm


Software

The  course does not require any specific software.


Groups and Languages

Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(SEM30) Seminaris (30 estudiants per grup) 11 Spanish first semester morning-mixed
(SEM30) Seminaris (30 estudiants per grup) 12 Spanish first semester morning-mixed
(SEM30) Seminaris (30 estudiants per grup) 13 Spanish first semester morning-mixed
(SEM30) Seminaris (30 estudiants per grup) 21 English first semester morning-mixed
(SEM30) Seminaris (30 estudiants per grup) 22 English first semester morning-mixed
(SEM30) Seminaris (30 estudiants per grup) 23 English first semester morning-mixed
(SEM30) Seminaris (30 estudiants per grup) 511 Catalan first semester afternoon
(SEM30) Seminaris (30 estudiants per grup) 512 Catalan first semester afternoon
(SEM30) Seminaris (30 estudiants per grup) 513 Catalan/Spanish first semester afternoon
(SEM30) Seminaris (30 estudiants per grup) 701 Spanish second semester morning-mixed
(SEM30) Seminaris (30 estudiants per grup) 702 Spanish second semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 1 Spanish first semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 2 English first semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 51 Catalan first semester afternoon
(TE) Theory 70 Spanish second semester morning-mixed