HU300-6-FY-CO:
Selected Issues in Human Rights
2026/27
Human Rights Centre (Essex Law School)
Colchester Campus
Full Year
Undergraduate: Level 6
Current
Thursday 08 October 2026
Friday 02 July 2027
30
11 June 2026
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
HU200
(none)
(none)
BA V1L2 History with Human Rights,
BA V1L8 History with Human Rights (Including Foundation Year),
BA V1LF History with Human Rights (Including Year Abroad),
BA V1LG History with Human Rights (Including Placement Year),
BA T7M8 Latin American studies with Human Rights (Including Foundation Year),
BA T7M9 Latin American Studies with Human Rights,
BA V5M8 Philosophy with Human Rights (Including Foundation Year),
BA V5M9 Philosophy with Human Rights,
BA V5MX Philosophy with Human Rights (Including Year Abroad),
BA V6M9 Philosophy with Human Rights (Including Placement Year),
BA VLM8 Philosophy with Human Rights (Including Foundation Year and Year Abroad),
BA L2M9 Politics with Human Rights,
BA L3M9 Sociology with Human Rights,
LLB MM20 Law with Human Rights,
LLB MM20WS Law with Human Rights,
LLB MM21 Law with Human Rights (Including Year Abroad),
LLB MM22 Law with Human Rights (Including Placement Year),
LLB MM30 Law with Human Rights (Including Foundation Year),
BA P570 Journalism with Human Rights,
BA P571 Journalism with Human Rights (Including Year Abroad),
BA P572 Journalism with Human Rights (Including Placement Year),
BA LL37 Social Anthropology with Human Rights,
BA LL38 Social Anthropology with Human Rights (Including Year Abroad),
BA LL39 Social Anthropology with Human Rights (Including Placement Year),
BA L914 Global Studies with Human Rights,
BA L916 Global Studies with Human Rights (Including Foundation Year),
BA L917 Global Studies with Human Rights (Including Placement Year),
BA L918 Global Studies with Human Rights (Including Year Abroad),
BA V301 Curating, Heritage and Human Rights,
BA V302 Curating, Heritage and Human Rights (Including Foundation Year),
BA V303 Curating, Heritage and Human Rights (Including Placement Year),
BA V304 Curating, Heritage and Human Rights (Including Year Abroad)
This module will provide students with the opportunity to apply their knowledge of human rights to contemporary situations where rights are at risk. As such, the specific content of the module will change year to year as the academic staff seek to cover the most pressing issues that are unfolding. Topics will consist of three sessions where different issues will be discussed.
The aims of this module are:
- To deepen knowledge and skills on human rights in context.
- To examine the relevance and role of human rights to a selection of contemporary issues.
- To give students the skills needed to apply their knowledge to any human rights issue.
- To strengthen students’ ability to critique and to discover feasible solutions to new human rights issues.
By the end of the module, students will be expected to be able to:
- Understand and critically analyse select contemporary human rights issues from a range of different perspectives.
- Critically analyse and evaluate key normative concepts and ideas, such as equality, human dignity and non-discrimination, and comprehend both the historical bases and the philosophical arguments underpinning the modern rights infrastructure.
- Understand how human rights frameworks (international, regional, domestic) do and do not adequately address emerging human rights issues.
- Critically analyse the effectiveness of human rights frameworks in their attempts to tackle specific current human rights issues.
- Synthesise and present human rights arguments in a group discussion.
- Apply skills and knowledge to analyse the role of human rights in society.
Topics that will be covered this year will be taken from the following indicative list:
- Contemporary risks to the right to life
- Contemporary violations of the right to integrity.
- Human rights and armed conflict
- Human rights and gender
- Contemporary violations of economic, social and cultural rights.
- Human rights and artificial intelligence
- Human rights and national security
- Human rights and migration
- Human rights and healthcare
- Environment and human rights
- Human rights of children
- Business and human rights
- Transitional Justice and mass atrocity
- Human rights and development
- LGBTQ+ rights
This module will be delivered via a weekly two-hour seminar.
This module will require active participation from students. Students will be required to prepare by reading the required reading list, and to take an active part in class discussion. Each topic will cover three distinct issues and will be led by an expert member of the academic staff.
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Sriram, C.L., Martin-Ortega, O. and Herman, J. (2017a) 'Conflict: Fundamentals and Debates', in
War, Conflict and Human Rights. 3rd edition. London: Taylor & Francis Ltd. Available at:
https://www-taylorfrancis-com.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/chapters/mono/10.4324/9781315277523-2/conflict-chandra-lekha-sriram-olga-martin-ortega-johanna-herman?context=ubx.
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Sriram, C.L. (2013a) 'Introduction', in Transitional Justice and Peacebuilding on the Ground: Victims and Ex-combatants. Abingdon: Routledge.
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Baker, C. and Obradovic-Wochnik, J. (2016) 'Mapping the Nexus of Transitional Justice and Peacebuilding',
Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 10(3), pp. 281–301. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1080/17502977.2016.1199483.
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Zarkov, D. (2017) 'From Women and War to Gender and Conflict? Feminist Trajectories', in F. Ní Aoláin et al. (eds)
The Oxford Handbook of Gender and Conflict. Oxford University Press, pp. 17–34. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199300983.001.0001.
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Otto, D. (2017) 'Women, Peace, and Security: A Critical Analysis of the Security Council's Vision', in F. Ní Aoláin et al. (eds)
The Oxford Handbook of Gender and Conflict. Oxford University Press, pp. 105–118. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199300983.001.0001.
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General Assembly Security Council (2020) 'Children and Armed Conflict - Report of the Secretary-General'. United Nations. Available at:
https://www.un.org/sg/sites/www.un.org.sg/files/atoms/files/15-June-2020_Secretary-General_Report_on_CAAC_Eng.pdf.
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Duffy, A. (2023) 'Lesser-Known Forms of State Torture during the Northern Ireland Conflict'.
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Matthew Evans & David Wilkins, Transformative Justice (2019) 'Transformative Justice, Reparations and Transatlantic Slavery',
Social & Legal Studies, 28(2). Available at:
http://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?public=false&handle=hein.journals/solestu28&id=137.
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Abraham, M. (2022) 'Pandemics', in D. Moeckli, S. Shah, and S. Sivakumaran (eds)
International human rights law. Fourth edition. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. Available at:
https://doi-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/10.1093/he/9780198860112.003.0032.
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Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (27AD) 'Emergency Measures and COVID-19: Guidance'. Available at:
https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Events/EmergencyMeasures_COVID19.pdf.
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'CCPR General Comment No. 29: Article 4: Derogations during a State of Emergency' (no date). Available at:
https://www.refworld.org/legal/general/hrc/2001/en/30676.
The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's
reading list.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
| Coursework |
Essay (HU300 Selected Issues in Human Rights) |
|
50% |
| Coursework |
Report I (HU300 Selected Issues in Human Rights) |
|
25% |
| Coursework |
Report 2 (HU300 Selected Issues in Human Rights) |
|
25% |
Additional coursework information
Autumn Term: Coursework (max. 2,000 words).
Spring Term: Coursework (max. 2,000 words).
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Aoife Duffy, email: aoife.duffy@essex.ac.uk.
Law UG Education Administrators - lawschoolug@essex.ac.uk
Yes
No
Yes
No external examiner information available for this module.
Available via Moodle
Of 1596 hours, 18 (1.1%) hours available to students:
1578 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s).
* Please note: due to differing publication schedules, items marked with an asterisk (*) base their information upon the previous academic year.
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