Strategic LitgIntlHmnRtsLaw (LAW-997-001A)
Saez
Meets: 04:00 PM - 05:50 PM (M) - Room 627
Enrolled: 2 / Limit: 22
Notices
***Please note that this class will start on Monday August 31st. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has requested Professor Saez’ expert testimony at a hearing in Honduras on August 25. Although the add/drop period ends August 28, students will be able to drop this class after the first session on Monday 8/31 without penalty. Students will also be able to add a different class provided they have authorization from the instructor to enroll and there is still space available. Students will also be able to add this class if they had not yet enrolled. After August 28 these changes will have to be done by someone in the Registrar's Office (Suite 304). You can call them if you are not in the school during office hours.
Description
This seminar is part of American University’s Impact Litigation Project (ILP). Strategic litigation in international law aims at advancing a particular idea or right that will have an impact in the development of international law. Students in this seminar will analyze international litigation as a tool for advancing human rights. The seminar will focus both on litigation and factors outside litigation that are necessary to create an environment where the desired legal change can take place. The class has a theoretical and a practical component. Students, therefore, will study cases and analyze scholarship related to impact litigation in international human rights law. At the same time, students will be assigned a case/project related to the work of the Impact Litigation Project.
Students will receive a survey the first session asking about their areas of interest and language abilities. After the add/drop period students will be divided in small groups. Each group (between 2 and 3 students) will be in charge of a case. A case may be an actual petition presented before the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights, a request for an amicus brief that the ILP has to draft, a human rights topic that the ILP is advancing in conjunction with other organizations, or assistance with a case handled by other foreign organizations. In all cases, students will be in charge of doing research, writing substantive documents in support of the topic/cases, and creating a strategy around the case using marketing tools, social media, and other instruments to promote the case or the topics behind it. In the past, students have drafted amicus briefs submitted later by the ILP to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, a shadow reports submitted before the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, petitions for cases submitted before the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights, legal opinions and background reports for potential litigation, among other projects. Please note that I cannot guarantee students that they will be assigned a project in their particular area of interest. I do my best, however, to match students with topics of their interest.
Textbooks and Other Materials
The textbook information on this page was provided by the instructor. Students should use this information when considering purchases from the AU Campus Store or other vendors. Students may check to determine if books are currently available for purchase online.
First Class Readings
Not available at this time.
Syllabus
Use your MyAU username and password to access the syllabus in the following format(s):
Microsoft Word 2007 (DOCX)