Human Rights: From Morality to Law (LAWS70454)
Graduate coursework level 7Points: 12.5Not available in 2025
About this subject
Overview
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Human rights are a dominant but highly contested feature of ethical, political and legal thinking in the era ushered in by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. This subject explores the many pressing questions raised by these rights from the point of view of contemporary moral, political and legal philosophy.
- Are human rights triggers for intervention or benchmarks of state legitimacy?
- Are they based on dignity, interests or some other value?
- How do we determine who has human rights and who bears the associated duties?
- Can human rights conflict with other values and how should such conflicts be resolved?
- Are human rights compatible with cultural pluralism?
- How should human rights be legalised?
- Is international human rights law legitimate in light of the claims of state sovereignty?
- How is the content of international human rights law to be determined?
- How should we reform or implement this law?
Indicative list of principal topics:
- The nature of human rights: moral, legal, political?
- The grounds of human rights: interests, dignity, God
- The subjects of human rights and the bearers of associated duties
- Conflicts involving human rights and their relations to the common good
- Human rights and cultural pluralism
- The legalisation of human rights
- The legitimacy of international human rights law
- Sources of international human rights law
- Reforming international human rights law
- Jus cogens, intervention and punishment.
Intended learning outcomes
A student who has successfully completed this subject will:
- Have an advanced and integrated understanding of theories relating to the underlying conceptual and normative principles of human rights morality and law
- Be able to critically examine, analyse, interpret and assess those principles
- Be an engaged participant in debate regarding contemporary issues in this field, such as whether human rights are essentially moral or political in nature, the values that ground them, how they are related to wider values, and how they are best embodied in and implemented by public international law
- Have a sophisticated appreciation of the factors that bear on the adjudication among different views in this field
- Have a detailed understanding of some the leading contemporary theories relating to the morality and international law of human rights
- Have the cognitive and technical skills to generate critical and creative ideas relating to the nature and justification of human rights, both as moral and international legal norms
- Have the communication skills independently to examine, research and analyse existing and emerging issues relating to the theory of human rights morality and law to relevant specialist and non-specialist audiences
- Be able to demonstrate autonomy, expert judgment as a thinker and learner in the field of human rights theory.
Last updated: 4 March 2025
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
Students must meet one of the following prerequisite options:
Option 1
Admission into a relevant Melbourne Law Masters program
Option 2
Admission into the MC-JURISD Juris Doctor
AND
| Code | Name | Teaching period | Credit Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| LAWS50049 | Human Rights Law and Practice | Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
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 Melbourne Law Masters welcomes applications from students with disabilities. The inherent academic requirements for study in the Melbourne Law Masters are:
- The ability to attend a minimum of 75% of classes and actively engage in the analysis and critique of complex materials and debate;
- The ability to read, analyse and comprehend complex written legal materials and complex interdisciplinary materials;
- The ability to clearly and independently communicate in writing a knowledge and application of legal principles and interdisciplinary materials and to critically evaluate these;
- The ability to clearly and independently communicate orally a knowledge and application of legal principles and interdisciplinary materials and critically evaluate these;
- The ability to work independently and as a part of a group;
- The ability to present orally and in writing legal analysis to a professional standard.
Students who feel their disability will inhibit them from meeting these inherent academic requirements are encouraged to contact Student Equity and Disability Support.
Last updated: 4 March 2025
Assessment
| Description | Timing | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
Option 1: Take-home examination
| 18 - 21 October | 100% |
Option 2: Research paper on a topic approved by the subject coordinator
| 25 November | 100% |
| Hurdle requirement: A minimum of 75% attendance | 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: 4 March 2025
Quotas apply to this subject
Dates & times
Not available in 2025
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 come, first served basis. Waitlists are maintained for subjects that are fully subscribed.
Students should note priority of 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.
Last updated: 4 March 2025
Further information
- Texts
- 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.
Please note Single Subject Studies via Community Access Program is not available to student visa holders or applicants
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
Additional information for this subject
If subject coordinator approval is required prior to enrolment, or for further information about the pre-requisites for Community Access Program study, please contact us:
- prospective CAP student enquiries;
- existing CAP student enquiries (if you have a current Unimelb login).
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
Last updated: 4 March 2025