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Human Rights
Study Course Description
Course Description Statuss:Approved
Course Description Version:14.00
Study Course Accepted:14.08.2024 09:02:03
| Study Course Information | |||||||||
| Course Code: | JF_015 | LQF level: | Level 6 | ||||||
| Credit Points: | 2.00 | ECTS: | 3.00 | ||||||
| Branch of Science: | Law; Civil Rights | Target Audience: | Juridical Science | ||||||
| Study Course Supervisor | |||||||||
| Course Supervisor: | Ilze Bērziņa | ||||||||
| Study Course Implementer | |||||||||
| Structural Unit: | Faculty of Social Sciences | ||||||||
| The Head of Structural Unit: | |||||||||
| Contacts: | Dzirciema street 16, Rīga, szf rsu[pnkts]lv | ||||||||
| Study Course Planning | |||||||||
| Full-Time - Semester No.1 | |||||||||
| Lectures (count) | 10 | Lecture Length (academic hours) | 2 | Total Contact Hours of Lectures | 20 | ||||
| Classes (count) | 6 | Class Length (academic hours) | 2 | Total Contact Hours of Classes | 12 | ||||
| Total Contact Hours | 32 | ||||||||
| Part-Time - Semester No.1 | |||||||||
| Lectures (count) | 4 | Lecture Length (academic hours) | 2 | Total Contact Hours of Lectures | 8 | ||||
| Classes (count) | 1 | Class Length (academic hours) | 2 | Total Contact Hours of Classes | 2 | ||||
| Total Contact Hours | 10 | ||||||||
| Study course description | |||||||||
| Preliminary Knowledge: | Not required. | ||||||||
| Objective: | Provide basic knowledge and understanding of the historical development of human rights norms and fundamental principles worldwide and in Latvia, with a special focus on the development of human rights in Europe and on mechanisms for protecting these rights.Teach the skills to analyse basic human rights concepts, identify the nature and content thereof, provide knowledge of the application of human rights protection instruments and the opportunities of the individual, both in the context of Latvia and Europe; provide basic knowledge of the interaction between laws of Latvia and international human rights documents (harmonisation) and their application in law enforcement practice in Latvia; analyse requests examined by the European Court of Human Rights in relation to the examination and judgements of human rights violation in various countries. | ||||||||
| Topic Layout (Full-Time) | |||||||||
| No. | Topic | Type of Implementation | Number | Venue | |||||
| 1 | Historical development of the concept of Human Rights (HR), norms and principles • The beginning of the HR idea • The oldest sources of the HR • The founders of the ideas of democracy and justice from the ancient world to the present day • Key historical circumstances and norms for the development of HR | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 2 | Historical development of HR in Latvia • Stages of development through Latvian statehood and constitutionalism • Development of HR after the restoration of independence in 1990 • HR and integration processes of Latvia into European institutions (European Parliament, European Union) and NATO | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 3 | Human Rights mechanisms in the world and their application • Universal HR protection mechanisms • Regional HR protection mechanisms • Globalisation processes in the world, positive and negative aspects | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 4 | Human Rights Categories: Civil and political rights I • The right to life. Abolition of death penalty • Prohibition of torture • Prohibition of slavery and forced labour | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 5 | Human Rights Categories: Civil and political rights II • The right to freedom and security • The right to a fair trial • The right to private and family life The right to marriage • Freedom of thought, conscience and religion • Freedom of speech • Freedom of assembly and association | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 6 | Human Rights Categories: Civil and political rights III • Prohibition of discrimination; rights of disabled people; children’s rights and the child protection • Ownership protection • The right to education • The right to free elections • Freedom of movement Migration. Asylum seekers. Expulsion | Classes | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 7 | Human Rights Categories: Economic, social and cultural rights • the catalogue of economic, social and cultural rights • International legal instruments in the field of social rights • The European Social Charter and the rights contained therein | Lectures | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 8 | Protection of social rights • Special features and differences in protection of social rights protection in the context of other human rights • National legal provisions for ensuring social rights • Possible mechanisms for protecting social rights | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 9 | Interpretation, application and observance of human rights norms in national legislation • The scope of democratic principles nowadays • Application of fundamental human rights in Latvia • The role of the Constitutional Court in strengthening and protecting human rights in Latvia • Interpretation of legal provisions and the Constitution | Classes | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 10 | European human rights mechanisms (instruments) • Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Human Rights • Council of Europe Court of Human Rights, its establishment and competence • Instruments for the protection of human rights in the European Union | Classes | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 11 | Human rights potential challenges and their solutions in Latvia • Monitoring and ensuring good public administration • Issues of minorities, asylum seekers and refugee rights • Social issues and human rights • Activities of the Ombudsman’s Office in monitoring and protection of human rights Union | Lectures | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 12 | The role of non-governmental organisations in protecting and promoting the human rights | Classes | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| Topic Layout (Part-Time) | |||||||||
| No. | Topic | Type of Implementation | Number | Venue | |||||
| 1 | Historical development of the concept of Human Rights (HR), norms and principles • The beginning of the HR idea • The oldest sources of the HR • The founders of the ideas of democracy and justice from the ancient world to the present day • Key historical circumstances and norms for the development of HR | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 5 | Human Rights Categories: Civil and political rights II • The right to freedom and security • The right to a fair trial • The right to private and family life The right to marriage • Freedom of thought, conscience and religion • Freedom of speech • Freedom of assembly and association | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 6 | Human Rights Categories: Civil and political rights III • Prohibition of discrimination; rights of disabled people; children’s rights and the child protection • Ownership protection • The right to education • The right to free elections • Freedom of movement Migration. Asylum seekers. Expulsion | Classes | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 8 | Protection of social rights • Special features and differences in protection of social rights protection in the context of other human rights • National legal provisions for ensuring social rights • Possible mechanisms for protecting social rights | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 11 | Human rights potential challenges and their solutions in Latvia • Monitoring and ensuring good public administration • Issues of minorities, asylum seekers and refugee rights • Social issues and human rights • Activities of the Ombudsman’s Office in monitoring and protection of human rights Union | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| Assessment | |||||||||
| Unaided Work: | For successful completion of the course, besides attending of lectures students are required to structure their learning independently, analyse their level of knowledge and rationally expand it, select and evaluate sources of literature given in the course description and work at obtaining the necessary reference materials in libraries and internet resources. In order to evaluate the quality of the study course as a whole, the student must fill out the study course evaluation questionnaire on the Student Portal. | ||||||||
| Assessment Criteria: | On a 10-point grading system: active participation in the lectures/classes – 20%; independently completed written assignment – 30%; a written examination – 50%. | ||||||||
| Final Examination (Full-Time): | Exam (Written) | ||||||||
| Final Examination (Part-Time): | Exam (Written) | ||||||||
| Learning Outcomes | |||||||||
| Knowledge: | On successful completion of the course, students will be able to list and identify the most important aspects of human rights; to describe and analyse the basic principles of these rights in the world and in Latvia; to demonstrate comprehensive and specialised knowledge and understanding of facts, theories, and regularities relevant to the professional field; to work independently and apply human rights protection mechanisms and to defend and promote the observance of the aforementioned human rights norms in Latvia and in the world. | ||||||||
| Skills: | On successful completion of the course, students will be able to notice and analyse potential human rights problems, their causes and solutions; will be prepared to take necessary protection actions in the event of possible human rights violations by applying the relevant international and national legal provisions in a skilful manner; they will be able to demonstrate a scientific approach to problem solving, take appropriate decisions and find creative solutions in changing and uncertain circumstances. | ||||||||
| Competencies: | The knowledge acquired during the study course will enable students to be competent and to participate in the work of law enforcement and assistance institutions; will promote the competence of these institutions in the areas of protection, strengthening, development and promotion of human rights. Students will be able to use the acquired theoretical foundations and skills in formulating and analysing situations, problems in their field of science or profession; they will be competent to explain and discuss various matters in a reasoned way with professionals of different areas; the acquired knowledge will provide students with competence in various aspects of human rights and will also provide opportunities to participate in competitions of international institutions for job vacancies outside Latvia. | ||||||||
| Bibliography | |||||||||
| No. | Reference | ||||||||
| Required Reading | |||||||||
| 1 | Bojārs, J. „Starptautiskās publiskās tiesības”. I, II daļa. Apgāds Zvaigzne ABC, 2006. | ||||||||
| 2 | Levits, Egīls. European Community Law within the hierarchy of legal norms of Latvia//First Year in the European Union: Current Legal Issues. Rīga, 2005. | ||||||||
| 3 | Universal Human Rights Instruments. United Nations. 2018 (The most Perfect information of Human Rights) | ||||||||
| 4 | Becker, S. Maria, and Julia N. Schneider. Human Rights Issues in the 21st Century. Nova Science Publishers. New York, 2008. | ||||||||
| Additional Reading | |||||||||
| 1 | Reihs, N. ”Izprotot Eiropas Savienības tiesības. Kopienas tiesību mērķi, principi un metodes”. Tiesu nama aģentūra, 2004. | ||||||||
| 2 | Vilks, A. „Tiesības, brīvības un tavi pienākumi pret valsti”. Rīga, 1999. | ||||||||
| 3 | Ignatāne, G., Lulle, A. „Rokasgrāmata par ANO”. Izdevējs: Apvienoto Nāciju Attīstības Programma (UNDP), Rīga, 2005. | ||||||||
| 4 | „Theory and Practice of the European Convention on Human Rights”. 4th Edition. Antwerpen: Oxford, 2006. | ||||||||
| 5 | Human rights in the 21st century: problems and prospects | ||||||||
| 6 | Weston, Burns H. Human Rights in the Early 21st Century. Encyclopaedia Britanica | ||||||||
| 7 | Burgentāls, Tomass. „Starptautiskās cilvēktiesības”. AGB, 2000. | ||||||||
| 8 | Autoru kolektīvs I. Ziemeles redakcijā, „Cilvēktiesības pasaulē un Latvijā”. Rīga, 2000. | ||||||||
| Other Information Sources | |||||||||
| 1 | Nowak, M. „U.N. Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: CCPR commentary”. N. P. Engel, 1996. | ||||||||
| 2 | Sieghart, Paul. „The International Law of Human Rights”. Oxford, 1992. | ||||||||
| 3 | „Theory and Practice of the European Convention on Human Rights”. Antwerpen-Oxford, 2006. | ||||||||
