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Business and Human Rights (LAWS70382)
Graduate coursework level 7Points: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
To learn more, visit 2023 Course and subject delivery.
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable(opens in new window)
Contact information
May
Lecturer
César Rodríguez-Garavito (Coordinator)
Email: law-masters@unimelb.edu.au
Phone: 13 MELB (13 6352), International: +(61 3) 9035 5511
Website: law.unimelb.edu.au
Overview
Availability(Quotas apply) | May |
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Fees | Look up fees |
The private sector represents one of the most important and daunting challenges facing human rights law and practice. As the reach and influence of companies has grown – sometimes dwarfing the states in which they operate – their impact on human rights has become impossible to ignore. Shareholder activists, NGOs, social movements, the media and governments are demanding greater transparency and reporting on human rights from a wide range of companies, from Facebook to Exxon to Walmart. The United Nations, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the multilateral banks have adopted human rights standards for companies, and a growing body of soft and hard law (domestic and international) is beginning to define the precise scope of corporate human rights obligations. This subject will explore the fast-growing field of business and human rights, highlighting the most critical legal and practical issues surrounding efforts to advance corporate responsibility and accountability.
Principal topics include:
- The history of the business and human rights movement
- The political and ideological challenge to applying human rights to business
- The legal framework and institutions for corporate human rights accountability
- The UN “Protect, Respect, Remedy” Framework and UN Guiding Principles
- The debate around a global treaty on business and human rights
- Multi-stakeholder initiatives and soft law human rights standards
- Key legal challenges: effective remedies, 'non-state actors', 'sphere of influence' and 'complicity'
- Litigating corporate human rights
- Non-judicial advocacy strategies
- Business and human rights case studies
- Business and human rights in the digital economy
- Climate change, business and human rights
- The business management perspective on human rights and implementation challenges.
Intended learning outcomes
A student who has successfully completed this subject will:
- Have an advanced and integrated understanding of the current legal status of human rights as they apply to businesses
- Be aware, at an advanced level, of the workings of the key legal instruments and bodies relevant to business and human rights
- Have a sophisticated understanding of the political, legal and practical challenges in applying human rights standards to businesses
- Have a nuanced understanding of competing theoretical and legal approaches to setting and enforcing human rights standards regarding corporate activity
- Be able to assess the strengths and weaknesses of such approaches in practice, as they apply to specific industries and global commodity chains
- Be able to apply general human rights principles to evaluate the conduct of companies in specific cases
- Have a sophisticated understanding of the specific regulatory and practical challenges posed by global commodity chains and bilateral and multilateral trade treaties
- Be able to think strategically about the different points of leverage (legal, financial, political) in promoting greater human rights accountability from companies
- Be able to identify and critically assess the new regulatory and human rights challenges raised by the digital economy.
Last updated: 23 March 2024
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Recommended background knowledge
Applicants without legal qualifications should note that subjects are offered in the discipline of law at an advanced graduate level. While every effort will be made to meet the needs of students trained in other fields, concessions will not be made in the general level of instruction or assessment. Most subjects assume the knowledge usually acquired in a degree in law (LLB, JD or equivalent). Applicants should note that admission to some subjects in the Melbourne Law Masters will be dependent upon the individual applicant’s educational background and professional experience.
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 23 March 2024
Assessment
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Class participation, discussion board, and group exercises | Throughout the teaching period | 40% |
Option 1: Take-home examination
| 21 - 24 July 2023 | 60% |
Option 2: Research paper on a topic approved by the subject coordinator
| 16 August 2023 | 60% |
Hurdle requirement: A minimum of 75% attendance is required. | Throughout the teaching period | N/A |
Additional details
Note: Students must choose assessment from the options listed above. If an option contains parts, all parts must be completed if that option is chosen.
Last updated: 23 March 2024
Quotas apply to this subject
Dates & times
- May
Principal coordinator Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours Total time commitment 150 hours Pre teaching start date 27 April 2023 Pre teaching requirements Please refer to the Reading Guide on the LMS subject page for confirmation of which resources need to be read and what other preparation is required before the teaching period commences. Teaching period 25 May 2023 to 31 May 2023 Last self-enrol date 2 May 2023 Census date 26 May 2023 Last date to withdraw without fail 14 July 2023 Assessment period ends 16 August 2023 May contact information
Lecturer
César Rodríguez-Garavito (Coordinator)
Email: law-masters@unimelb.edu.au
Phone: 13 MELB (13 6352), International: +(61 3) 9035 5511
Website: law.unimelb.edu.au
What do these dates mean
Visit this webpage to find out about these key dates, including how they impact on:
- Your tuition fees, academic transcript and statements.
- And for Commonwealth Supported students, your:
- Student Learning Entitlement. This applies to all students enrolled in a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP).
Subjects withdrawn after the census date (including up to the ‘last day to withdraw without fail’) count toward the Student Learning Entitlement.
Additional delivery details
This subject has a quota of 30 students.
Enrolment is on a 'first in' basis. Waitlists are maintained for subjects that are fully subscribed.
Students should note priority of waitlisted places in subjects will be given as follows:
- To currently enrolled Graduate Diploma and Masters students with a satisfactory record in their degree
- To other students enrolling on a single subject basis, eg Community Access Program (CAP) students, cross-institutional study and cross-faculty study.
Please refer to the Melbourne Law Masters website for further information about the management of subject quotas and waitlists.
Melbourne Law School may reserve places in a subject for incoming international cohorts or where a subject is core to a specialisation with limited alternate options.
Last updated: 23 March 2024
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
Specialist materials will be made available via the LMS in the pre-teaching period.
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
- Links to additional information
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
Additional information for this subject
If required, please contact law-masters@unimelb.edu.au for subject coordinator approval.
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
This subject is available to students studying at the University from eligible overseas institutions on exchange and study abroad. Students are required to satisfy any listed requirements, such as pre- and co-requisites, for enrolment in the subject.
Last updated: 23 March 2024