POLI 3505

This course examines the formation of international human rights institutions, mechanisms, practices, and related jurisprudence. It provides an overview of the development of international humanitarian law and policy; the treaty system and monitoring bodies; and international criminal court and criminal tribunals. Through analyses of reporting systems under a selection of treaties, we will address how both states and non-government organizations have engaged human rights treaty committees on different conventions and areas of law (e.g., civil and political rights; the rights women, children, migrants, torture victims, etc.), and we will consider their applications within domestic law and policy. We will also look at the formation of international criminal law institutions, and, through a sample of case studies, we will consider their approaches to state and individual responsibility and accountability for persecution, genocide and crimes against humanity.