Human Rights Law Clinic (812M3)

30 credits, Level 7 (Masters)

Spring teaching

This module offers you the opportunity to build on the law and theory you’ve learnt through the preparation of pro bono legal opinions for real clients.

You’ll work under the supervision of the module convenor on specific legal questions related to international human rights law coming from clients such as:

• international organisations
• governments
• non-governmental organisations.

Depending on the complexity and nature of the legal opinions sought, you’ll work individually or in small groups to produce memoranda for your clients. You’ll follow a process of:

• consultation with clients
• close supervision
• oversight and review by the module convenor
• seminar discussions on work in progress
• presentations to clients of draft memoranda.

You’ll apply research and writing skills to the analysis and application of facts and law to real situations. You’ll also develop oral presentation skills. Although the module will seek to enhance your ability to present and tailor advice to clients, the module will ultimately function as a pedagogical exercise to train you in the practice and application of international human rights law.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 300 hours of work. This breaks down into about 21 hours of contact time and about 279 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2023/24. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum. We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.