Semester: VIII Course: Human Rights Faculty: Vikas H. Gandhi, Ph.D.

Gujarat National Law University

Gandhinagar, Gujarat (India)

Course Outline

of

Human Rights

For

BA/BCom/BSc/BBA/BSW, LLB

Semester: VIII

Session: January-June 2022

Faculty:
Vikas H. Gandhi, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Law
vgandhi@gnlu.ac.in
Contact no. 81 286 50 837

Page 1 of 9
Semester: VIII Course: Human Rights Faculty: Vikas H. Gandhi, Ph.D.

Sr. No. Contents Page No.

1.0 Objectives of the course 02

2.0 Proposed teaching schedule 02

3.0 Detailed course-outline 03-06

4.0 Prescribed/Recommended readings 06-07

5.0 Teaching methodology 07

6.0 Evaluation pattern 08

Tentative dates for test/submission of project/GD,

7.0 08
etc

8.0 Important instructions to students 09

9.0 Contact hours 09

Page 2 of 9
Semester: VIII Course: Human Rights Faculty: Vikas H. Gandhi, Ph.D.
1.0 Objectives of the Course
Respect for Human Rights (HR) and Fundamental Freedoms (FF) makes the State as a Welfare
State. This is one of the aims of the United Nations [UN] and a fundamental resolution of the
United Nations Charter [UN Charter]. Based on these objectives of UN and UN Charter, the course
is basically designed by covering; Introduction & overview of the int’l human rights law [IHRL]
and human rights in India, the sources of IHRL and human rights in India, international human
rights law and global perspectives including India, foundation of core international human rights
treaties & conventions & its influence in India, International human rights monitoring institutions in
action, evolution of regional approaches and arrangements of human rights protection, Artificial
Intelligence [AI] technology-trade and development and interpretation of human rights instruments,
climate change-environment and human rights, Issues and challenges in the SAARC nations, issues
and challenges in IHRL today.

2.0 Proposed Teaching Schedule

No. of Sessions
Module No. Modules
(Classes)
III.4.1* Introduction to international human rights law [IHRL] & 05
human rights in India
III.4.2 Sources of IHRL and foundation of domestic human rights 05
law
III.4.3 International and domestic perceptions of human rights 05
III.4.4 Core UN human rights treaties and its implementation 05
including its status in India
III.4.5 Role & functions of International human rights monitoring 05
committees / bodies
III.4.6 Regional approaches and arrangements of human rights 05
protection
III.4.7 Artificial Intelligence [AI] technology, trade / business & 05
development and interpretation of human rights instruments
III.4.8 Climate change, environment protection and human rights 05
and situation in India
III.4.9 Issues in the SAARC nations on human rights 05
III.4.10 Breaches, Vulnerabilities and challenges on IHRL in 05
contemporary times

Total = 50

*
‘III’ stands for semester, ‘3’ stands for the order in which the course/paper appears in that semester and ‘1’ stands for
the module number.
Page 3 of 9
Semester: VIII Course: Human Rights Faculty: Vikas H. Gandhi, Ph.D.

3.0 Detailed Course Outline

(Human Rights)

Module- I III.4.1† Introduction to international human rights law [IHRL] & human rights in
India Sessions: 05

 The understanding of International Human Rights Law (IHRL), The basic principles
and philosophy of human rights, The broad review of IHRL and international
community, The evolution of IHRL, Standards of IHRL, Global human rights glimpses
(Libya, Syria, Iraq, etc.), Control of IHRL on international law & diplomatic relations,
IHRL with currents of philosophies, human rights movements in India today, summary.

Module- II Sources of IHRL and foundation of domestic human rights law Sessions: 05

 International Conventions & Covenants, Core UN treaties, General principles of

international law, Juristic writings, Regional treaties, International humanitarian law,
Customary International Law (CIL); nature of CIL, Peremptory norms (juscogens), UN
declarations, United Nations General Assembly resolutions, Initial development of laws
of war, Natural law, The law of State responsibility, Responsibility of international
organizations, Judgment at Nuremberg, Institutionalizing the accountability of Non-
Government Organizations, International Non-government Organizations and Civil
Society, Various Legislation and Constitutional Provisions in India to encourage human
rights, Government Institutions in protecting & promoting human rights in India,
Judicial review to promote human rights in India, Summary.

Module- III International and domestic perceptions of human rights Sessions: 05

 Conflicts in Culture, Tradition & Practices, Universalism and Cultural Relativism,

Multiculturalism, Internationalizing of human rights, Human-rights and the least
developing countries, Third World Approaches to International Law, Hindu traditions
of Human Rights, Islamic approach to Human Rights, Human rights values and
multiple legal orders and Connections & Contradictions, Human rights and
Multiculturalism in India, Diverse approach of human rights in India and legal orders by
the State & Judiciary, Summary.

†
‘III’ stands for semester, ‘3’ stands for the order in which the course/paper appears in that semester, and ‘1’ stands for
the module number.
Page 4 of 9
Semester: VIII Course: Human Rights Faculty: Vikas H. Gandhi, Ph.D.
Module- IV Core UN human rights treaties and its implementation including its status in
India Sessions: 05

 Context and historical background, UN charter to the two covenants, The relationship
between the two Sets of Rights (ICCPR & ICESCR), The legal framework of the
ICCPR & ICESCR, limitations of ‘Progressive Realization’, Justiciability and the role of
the Courts in developing economic-social rights, Political Will, notion of conflicts,
Women’s Rights under CEDAW and its adoption in India including validity and
reservations, Rights of Child [CRC] with optional protocols [OP] and its
implementation in India, Rights of Indigenous People and its implementation in India
Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination [CERD] and India, Convention on
the Rights of Persons with Disabilities [ CRPD] and its application in India, Summary.

Module- V Role of international human rights monitoring institutions and stand of India
Sessions: 05

 The UN human rights monitoring system and its criticism, The UN Human Rights
Council [HRC], Confidential Procedure of UN human rights council, Special
Procedures, Role of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Humanitarian
Intervention and Sanctions of security council, Responsibility to Protect [R2P],
International Court of Justice [ICJ] and human rights, Treaty Organs and its Powers,
Functions and Performance, State reporting, General Comments, Individual
Communications, Reform proposals to the treaty based monitoring, Impact of treaty
regimes, Summary.

Module- VI Regional approaches and arrangements of human rights protection

Sessions: 05

 Comparison of Universal and Regional Regimes, The European Convention System,

Council of Europe and Human Rights Treaties, European Court of human rights,
Individual Petitions by the European court, interstate Procedure, Illustrative Decisions
of European court, The Inter-American System and its background, Inter-American
Court and decisions, The Inter-American Commission at Work, The African System,
for the human rights, The African Union [AU], The African Commission and its
decisions, The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Beginnings, South-East
Asian System of Human Rights Protection, The League of Arab States and Human
Rights, Summary

Module- VII Artificial Intelligence [AI] technology, trade / business & development and
interpretation of human rights instruments Sessions: 05

 Human rights in the age of artificial intelligence, Artificial Intelligence and Human
Rights, Future Impact of AI on Human Beings and Human Rights, Challenges and
Vulnerabilities in AI, Universal Jurisdiction, Sovereign Immunity, Post-War Re-
construction, Right to Development, the corporate responsibility to respect human
rights, Summary.

Page 5 of 9
Semester: VIII Course: Human Rights Faculty: Vikas H. Gandhi, Ph.D.

Module- VIII Climate change, environment protection and human rights and situation in
India Sessions: 05

 General Framework of Climate Change and Human Rights, Global Warming and
Environmental Protection, Progressive recognition of Obligations, Limitations of the
human rights protection system, Climate Policy & Justice, Summary.

Module- IX Issues in the SAARC nations on human rights Sessions: 05

 Human rights and Constitution in SAARC, Economic & Social Rights in SAARC, Civil
Society Institutions’ Roles in Protecting Human Rights in SAARC, Human rights issues
in SAARC, Domestic monitoring arrangements towards evolving the South Asian
Charter of Human Rights, Summary.

Module- X Breaches, Vulnerabilities and challenges on IHRL in contemporary times

times Sessions: 05

 Death Penalty, Abortion, Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide, Terrorism and Counter-
terrorism, National Security and Human Security Narratives, International War Crimes
Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda etc, LGBTQI+, Ticking Bomb”
Scenarios.

Prescribed/Recommended Readings

Prescribed Readings

1. Olivier de Schutter, International Human Rights Law, Cambridge University Press,

2010.
2. Jack Donnelly, The Relative Universality of Human Rights, Human Rights
Quarterly, Volume 29, Volume 2 (2007): 281-306.
3. Andrew Clapham, Human Rights: A Very Short Introduction, (Oxford University
Press, 2007), pp. 23-56
4. Henry J. Steiner, Philip Alston and Ryan Goodman, International Human Rights
in Context: Law, Politics ,Morals 3rd ed (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007),
ISBN: 9780199279425
5. Baxi, Upendra, Human Rights Responsibility of Multinational Corporations,
Political Ecology of Injustice: Learning from Bhopal Thirty Plus? Business and
Human Rights Journal, vol. 1, no. 1, (2015) pp. 21-40.
6. Chimni, B. S., A Just World under Law: A View from the South, American
University International Law Review, vol. 22, No. (2007), pp. 199-220.
7. Chimni, B. S., Third World Approaches to International Law: A Manifesto,
International Community Law Review 8: 3–27, 2006

Page 6 of 9
Semester: VIII Course: Human Rights Faculty: Vikas H. Gandhi, Ph.D.
8. James Anaya Indigenous Peoples in International Law (Oxford University Press,
New York, 1996) p. 335.
9. Makau Mutua, The Ideology of Human Rights, Virginia Journal of International
Law, Volume 36, Issue 3 (1995-1996): 589-657.
10. Shivani Verma, Justiciability of Economic Social and Cultural Right: Relevant Case
Law, International Council on Human Rights Policy, Geneva 2005.
11. Rebecca J. Cook (ed), Human Rights of Women: National and International
Perspectives (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1994), ISBN:
9780812215380
12. Randall Peerenboom, Faculty of Law and Management; Oxford University –
Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, UCLA, School of Law Research Paper No. 02-23.
13. Torben Spaak, Stockholm University, Buffalo Human Rights Law Review, Vol. 13,
2007.
14. Mohammad Fadel, Chicago Journal of International Law, Vol. 8, No. 1, p. 1, 2008.
15. Michael J. McDermott, Constitutionalizing an Enforceable Right to Food: A New
Tool for Combating Hunger, Boston College International & Comparative Law
Review [Vol. 35:543].
16. Kirsten Davies & others, The Declaration on Human Rights and Climate Change:
a new legal tool for global policy change, Journal of Human Rights and the
Environment, Vol. 8, No. 2, September 2017, pp. 217–253.
17. Laura J. Shepherd, Power and Authority in the Production of United Nations
Security Council Resolution 1325, International Studies Quarterly (2008) 52, 383–
404.

Recommended Readings

1. Kumar,Raj C., Human rights, justice and constitutional empowerment, Oxford

University press, 2010.
2. Basu, L N., Human rights in a global perspective, Aavishkar Publishers,
Distributors, 2003.
3. Coicaud, Jean Marc, Globalization of human rights, United Nations university
press, 2004.
4. Bantekas and Oette, International Human Rights: Law and Practice (2013).
5. Neil Stammers, Social Movements and the Social Construction of Human Rights,
Human Rights Quarterly, Volume 21, Issue 4 (1999): 980-1008.
6. Dworkin, Ronald. In Theories of Rights, edited by Jeremy Waldron, 153-167.
Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1984
7. Katharine G. Young, The Minimum Core of Economic and Social Rights: A
Concept in Search of Content, The Yale Journal Of International Law Vol. 33:
113, 2008
8. Moya Lloyd, “(Women’s) Human Rights: Paradoxes and Possibilities, Review of
International Studies, Volume 33, Issue 1 (2007): 91-103.
9. Tyagi,Yogesh, ‘The UN Human Rights Committee: Practice and Procedure’
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2011.
10. James Anaya Indigenous Peoples in International Law (Oxford University Press,
New York, 1996) p. 335.
11. Koh, ‘Internalization Through Socialization’, 4 Duke LJ (2005) 975
12. Atapattu, Sumudu, Climate Change in South Asia: Towards an Equitable Legal
Page 7 of 9
Semester: VIII Course: Human Rights Faculty: Vikas H. Gandhi, Ph.D.
Response within a Framework of Sustainable Development and Human Security
(IDLO, 2011)

4.0 Teaching Methodology

Lecture, Documentary, Discussion, Case-study

5.0 Evaluation Pattern

Evaluation: Marks

Continuous Evaluation…………………………………………….… 50
Mid-Semester Test ………………………………………………………
End-Semester Examination……………………………………................. 50

Total 100

Continuous Evaluation: (Instruction by the faculty-member)

6.0 Tentative Dates for Continuous Evaluation Test/ Submission of Project/

GD, etc

1st March 2022, Tuesday – Research Project on International Human Rights [25 marks]
4th April 2022, Monday – Thematic or country mandate issues – Human Rights [25 marks]

Page 8 of 9
Semester: VIII Course: Human Rights Faculty: Vikas H. Gandhi, Ph.D.
7.0 Important Instructions to Students

8.0 Contact Hours

Days: Monday to Thursday
Timings: 3.30 pm to 4.30 pm

Page 9 of 9