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75721-01 - Lecture: Human Rights Litigation and Reparations in Practice (6 CP)
| Semester | spring semester 2025 |
| Course frequency | Every spring sem. |
| Lecturers | Clara Lucia Sandoval Villalba (claralucia.sandovalvillalba@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | About the module The recognition that individuals, groups of individuals (and even others like the environment) have rights, constitutes one of the most emblematic changes under public international law since World War II. But Human Rights make sense if there are remedies to protect them. As a result, States that have signed and ratified human rights treaties have the obligation to provide adequate and effective remedies to deal with potential violations of human rights. Generally (with exceptions), if States fail to provide adequate and effective remedies, individuals can go to other mechanisms at the international level or at the regional level to ensure justice and reparation. While this is a major achievement, the road to justice and other forms of reparation such as compensation, rehabilitation, restitution, satisfaction and guarantees of non repetition is full of challenges: from lack of access to remedies to lack of implementation of judgments. It could take more than two decades, if not more, to see justice and reparation done. The great majority of victims die without seeing justice and reparation done. Indeed, most of them cannot even afford to go to Court. This is unacceptable: If victims have rights, they should be respected, protected and fulfilled today, and Courts must play their part! This module will provide students with an in-depth understanding of the rights to justice and reparation that victims of gross human rights violations have. It will look at strategic litigation and strategic implementation of judgments to ensure that such rights are protected and fulfilled at the national, regional and international level. The module will allow students to mix theory and practice looking at the United Nations treaty monitoring bodies, and the regional courts in Europe, the Americas and Africa using real cases and sharing the views of actors who have been involved in the litigation of emblematic cases (from litigants to victims). Finally, the module will focus on gross human rights violations, which could be of both civil and political rights as well as economic, social, cultural and even environmental rights. When gross human rights violations occur, they happened in a systematic and generalised manner and affect many. As a result, such cases tend to be incredibly challenging to litigate and when a judgment is issued, they are the hardest to implement. At the end of the module, students would have been equipped with key tools to ensure that in their legal practice they include a victim-centred perspective, strategic litigation as well as reparation, and judgment implementation. About Prof. Sandoval The module will be delivered by Prof. Clara Sandoval, a qualified lawyer and leading expert on reparations, human rights, and transitional justice. Clara is Professor at the School of Law and Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex, at the Geneva Academy and is also the Director of Programmes at the Global Survivors Fund (GSF). Clara mixes both theory and practice. While working as a Professor at the University of Essex and Geneva Academy, Clara has carried out extensive research and practical work on reparation, gross human rights violations and implementation of judgement. She has successfully litigated emblematic cases before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (such as Azul Rojas Marin and Other v. Peru and Garcia Lucero and Others v. Chile) and has served as an expert on reparations including in cases involving sexual violence before the International Criminal Court and the Interamerican Court of Human Rights. She has also worked with the United Nations and civil society organisations, such as REDRESS. Her extensive list of publications on reparation, including for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, are regularly cited and consulted in the sector. Classes: The module will run on Thursdays 17.15 to 19.00 pm for eleven sessions. Students should follow the syllabus for the course. Each class includes essential and other readings, key cases and instruments and guiding questions. Students should do the reading in advance of the class following the guiding questions. Some of the classes include videos or podcasts that should be seen in advance of the class. The professor will make participatory presentations where students are invited to permanently engage and participate. Some students will be asked to make short presentations for each class that will count towards the 20% of the mark. Sessions Topic 1 Introduction to Human Rights Litigation 2 International and regional human rights mechanisms: I 3 International and regional human rights mechanisms: II 4 Admissibility and jurisdiction 5 The right to a remedy and reparation 6 The case of D.H and Others v. the Czech Republic (ECHR) 7 The case of Azul Rojas Marin and Other v. Peru (IACtHR) 8 Norbert Zongo and Others v. Burkina Faso (ACHPR) 9 The Cotton Field case v. Mexico (IACTHR) 10 Ukraine v. Russia (re Crimea) (ECHR) 11 Environmental rights – where are we? KlimaSeniorinnen v. Switzerland (ECtHR) and Indigenous communities of the Lhaka Honhat (Our Land) Association v. Argentina (IACtHR) |
| Learning objectives | By the end of the module, students would have been equipped with key tools to ensure that in their legal practice they include a victim-centred perspective, strategic litigation as well as reparation, and judgment implementation. In particular, students will understand and think critically about: • Admissibility and jurisdictional criteria and issues • International fora (regional courts and/or quasi-judicial bodies) where to litigate a case. To this end, students would understand and navigate the international architecture (at the UN and at the regional human rights mechanisms) • Victims and survivors’ centred approaches • Reparation claims from the outset of a case • When to litigate a case and why • Designing implementation plans post-judgment • The use of amicus and experts in Court • The use of non-legal tools (international organisations, media, etc) • Impact of international judgments |
| Comments | This module is particularly targeted to students who are interested in ligitation of human rights violation cases at the international or domestic level. The module would allow students to put in practice knowledge that has been accummulated in other areas such as international criminal law, interntational human rights law or international humanitarian law. |
| Admission requirements | None |
| Course application | |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Thursday | 17.15-19.00 | Juristische Fakultät, Seminarraum S6 HG.52 |
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday 20.02.2025 | 17.15-19.00 | Juristische Fakultät, Seminarraum S6 HG.52 |
| Thursday 20.02.2025 | 17.15-19.00 | Juristische Fakultät, Seminarraum S7 HG.50 |
| Thursday 27.02.2025 | 17.15-19.00 | Juristische Fakultät, Seminarraum S6 HG.52 |
| Thursday 27.02.2025 | 17.15-19.00 | Juristische Fakultät, Seminarraum S7 HG.50 |
| Thursday 06.03.2025 | 17.15-19.00 | Juristische Fakultät, Seminarraum S6 HG.52 |
| Thursday 06.03.2025 | 17.15-19.00 | Juristische Fakultät, Seminarraum S7 HG.50 |
| Thursday 13.03.2025 | 17.15-19.00 | Fasnachstferien |
| Thursday 13.03.2025 | 17.15-19.00 | Fasnachstferien |
| Thursday 20.03.2025 | 17.15-19.00 | Juristische Fakultät, Seminarraum S6 HG.52 |
| Thursday 20.03.2025 | 17.15-19.00 | Juristische Fakultät, Seminarraum S7 HG.50 |
| Thursday 27.03.2025 | 17.15-19.00 | Juristische Fakultät, Seminarraum S6 HG.52 |
| Thursday 27.03.2025 | 17.15-19.00 | Juristische Fakultät, Seminarraum S7 HG.50 |
| Thursday 03.04.2025 | 17.15-19.00 | Juristische Fakultät, Seminarraum S6 HG.52 |
| Thursday 03.04.2025 | 17.15-19.00 | Juristische Fakultät, Seminarraum S7 HG.50 |
| Thursday 10.04.2025 | 17.15-19.00 | Juristische Fakultät, Seminarraum S6 HG.52 |
| Thursday 10.04.2025 | 17.15-19.00 | Juristische Fakultät, Seminarraum S7 HG.50 |
| Thursday 17.04.2025 | 17.15-19.00 | Ostern |
| Thursday 17.04.2025 | 17.15-19.00 | Ostern |
| Thursday 24.04.2025 | 17.15-19.00 | Juristische Fakultät, Seminarraum S6 HG.52 |
| Thursday 24.04.2025 | 17.15-19.00 | Juristische Fakultät, Seminarraum S7 HG.50 |
| Thursday 01.05.2025 | 17.15-19.00 | Tag der Arbeit |
| Thursday 01.05.2025 | 17.15-19.00 | Tag der Arbeit |
| Thursday 08.05.2025 | 17.15-19.00 | Juristische Fakultät, Seminarraum S6 HG.52 |
| Thursday 08.05.2025 | 17.15-19.00 | Juristische Fakultät, Seminarraum S7 HG.50 |
| Thursday 15.05.2025 | 17.15-19.00 | Juristische Fakultät, Seminarraum S6 HG.52 |
| Thursday 15.05.2025 | 17.15-19.00 | Juristische Fakultät, Seminarraum S7 HG.50 |
| Thursday 22.05.2025 | 17.15-19.00 | Juristische Fakultät, Seminarraum S6 HG.52 |
| Thursday 22.05.2025 | 17.15-19.00 | Juristische Fakultät, Seminarraum S7 HG.50 |
| Thursday 29.05.2025 | 17.15-19.00 | Auffahrt |
| Thursday 29.05.2025 | 17.15-19.00 | Auffahrt |
| Modules |
Module: Europeanization and Globalization (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) Specialization Module Global Europe: Work, Migration and Society (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) Specialization Module Global Europe: Globalized Trade and Business (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) Specialization Module Global Europe: International Organizations (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) Specialization Module Global Europe: Peace and Conflict Studies (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) Specialization Module Global Europe: Statehood, Development and Globalization (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) Specialization module: International Law (Master's Studies: Law (bilingue)) Specialization module: International Law (Master's Studies: Law) Wahlbereich Master Rechtswissenschaft (EUCOR): Empfehlungen (Master's Studies: Law (Eucor)) |
| Assessment format | lecture examination |
| Assessment details | The module would be assessed in the following manner: • A three-hour examination to write an essay worth 100% of the final mark. |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Registration: course registration |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | 1-6 0,01 |
| Repeated registration | one repetition |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Law, studiendekanat-ius@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Öffentliches Recht |