View Specification DocumentComparative Human Rights: Law and Legitimacy LAW4150
- Academic Session: 2026-27
- School: School of Law
- Credits: 40
- Level: Level 4 (SCQF level 10)
- Typically Offered: Runs Throughout Semesters 1 and 2
- Available to Visiting Students: Yes
- Collaborative Online International Learning: No
- Curriculum For Life: No
Short Description
The course covers the most important human rights systems currently in operation at the global and regional levels (UN treaty bodies, European Court of Human Rights, Inter-American Court of Human Rights, African Court on Human and Peoples' rights). The course first spans the substantive norms, procedures, predominant case law and the implementation machinery that are distinctive of each system. The course then discusses if and how these systems are or can be legitimate from the perspective of their subjects (states, individuals, groups, etc.) and if and how the same standards of legitimacy should apply to different systems.
Timetable
20 weekly timetabled on-campus seminars, each lasting two hours.
Requirements of Entry
This course is only available to LLB students.
Public International Law recommended but not required.
Should too many candidates apply, they will be ranked according to their GPA with the grade achieved in Constitutional Law 1 as an additional criterion, should this be necessary.
Excluded Courses
None
Co-requisites
None
Assessment
■ A 2,500-word response paper to core readings and a 5-minute in-class presentation designed as a response to and discussion of a core reading. Both components are compulsory, but the response paper will be graded, while the presentation will not be. Feedback will still be provided by lecturers for the presentation in the form of an individual feedback sheet. The response paper is worth 30% of the overall grade.
A 6000-word essay on a topic that falls within the ambit of the course. The essay is worth 70% of the overall grade.
Course Aims
The aim of the course is to introduce students to core materials relating to international and regional human rights protection. The course will cover doctrinal legal aspects as well as underlying considerations of normative theory and will teach participants the skills to critically analyse and connect both areas of debate..
Intended Learning Outcomes of Course
By the end of this course students will be able to:
■ Reconstruct, distinguish, and evaluate the defining features of global and regional human rights systems
■ Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the substantive norms, procedures, case law and implementation machinery of each system
■ Situate human rights systems within their historical and sociological context
■ Analyse the debates on the legitimacy of human rights systems
Comprehend the various strands of literature on human rights systems and their legitimacy.