Belinda Cooper

The essential components of international human rights law. How to carefully consider balancing human rights concerns and the law.

If you are interested in human rights law or in working in international organizations (political or non-governmental) it is an extremely useful course to have a better understanding of the human rights system. 1 Columbia University: Arts & Sciences Spring 2023 Course: HRTSUN3190_001_2023_1-INT'LHUMANRIGHTSLAW : HRTSUN3190_001_2023_1 - INT'L HUMAN RIGHTS LAW Instructor: Christian De Vos

This was a great foundational course. I wish it would be required during the first semester of the program. I think it would have been a great co-requisite for Intro to Human Rights.

I learned a lot about international law and it's role within human rights.

Basics of international human rights law

I learnt a lot about international human rights law: limitations on rights and conflicts between rights; how these rights are enforced; diverse case studies of international human rights law from CEDAW to the Genocide Conventions and the Rome Statute; cases and outcomes of the international criminal tribinals in Yugoslavia and Rwanda; regional international human rights courts such as the European Court of Human Rights and Inter-American Court of Human Rights; international jurisdiction; the difference between binding treaties and soft law; conditions for secession; the concept of sovereignty and conditions for its limitations in international law; the emerging doctrine of 'Responsibility to Protect' and how it has been applied so far, considering the case of Libya; case studies of free speech and limitations of free speech under international human rights law etc.

I probably would not recommend this class to those outside of the human rights masters program, unless someone has a super keen interest in international law.

It's a really good course for students interested in international affairs beyond the theoretical perspectives of the politics that shape world affairs. This course deals with real life consequences and the legal resources, systems and structures available to address them.

I learned about the various human rights instruments, mechanisms, processes that allow for the execution of international human rights law in practice.

I learned a lot about the framework of international human rights law. I gained a lot of background on specific treaties and other mechanisms of international law. Through the debates we were able to learn a lot about different perspectives and interpretations that may have challenged our own views or initial way of thinking.