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General Information
Course Overview: The purpose of this course is to provide a brief review of Public International Law and an
Introduction to International Human Rights Law. It seeks to examine its emergence in historical context and
the continuing development of international human rights law, institutions and mechanisms. The course also
aims to provide an overview of current and emerging human rights issues, particularly in the Philippine
setting. Students will investigate international human rights standards and framework and how these can be
used to improve domestic protection for human rights.
In this course, the students will help shape the syllabus. While the professor has provided a framework and
readings for the initial meetings, the course will be designed around the students’ particular thematic
interests, be it women’s rights and access to reproductive health, economic rights including the intersection
of business and human rights, or freedom of expression and legislation on cybercrimes.
Classes will be a combination of lectures, recitation and discussion, and presentations on chosen topics.
Each student will be expected to present on a particular topic or human rights theme of interest (women’s
rights, indigenous people’s rights, children’s rights, right to health, education, right to food, environment).
The student will examine international human rights standards, treaties, and expert opinions and relate
them to circumstances, issues, and challenges at the domestic level. S/he will investigate local circumstances,
including factual accounts, reports, and statistics and identify possible strengths, weaknesses, threats, and
gaps in domestic law and policy. The student shall provide recommendations, including possible suggestions
on how to improve or draft legislation and policies.
Recitation: 30%
Midterm: 30%
Final Presentation: 40%
Course Materials:
Textbooks:
Bernas, Introduction to Public International Law
Rhona K.M. Smith, Textbook on International Human Rights, (6th edn, OUP 2014).
Supplementary Reading:
Dunoff, Ratner, Wippman, International Law Norms, Actors, Process: A Problem Oriented Approach
Akehurst's Modern Introduction to International Law
Complementary Readings will be assigned per session. New readings may be assigned for each session.
PART I
February 5: Session 3
Subjects/Actors of International Law
States
Bernas, Introduction to Public International Law, pp. 71-85
International Organizations, Insurgents, National Liberation Movements, and Individuals
Bernas, Introduction to Public International Law, pp. 87-101
Human Rights: Historical Context, Emergence and Development
Smith, Textbook on Human Rights , Chapter 2: Historical Background (pp. 39-59)
The United Nations
Smith, Textbook on Human Rights, Chapter 3: The United Nations (pp. 60-71)
o https://www.facebook.com/InternationalCriminalCourt/videos/765758766953170/
o
o https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/167908-rodrigo-duterte-international-
criminal-court-case-challenges
o https://www.icc-cpi.int/pages/pe.aspx
o https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/153387-duterte-pet-peeve-icc
o https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/150285-international-criminal-court-trial-
duterte-killings
o https://www.rappler.com/thought-leaders/167894-12-considerations-duterte-icc
o https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/167908-rodrigo-duterte-international-
criminal-court-case-challenges
o https://www.facebook.com/ruben.carranza.14/posts/10155548789294671
o https://www.rappler.com/nation/195492-icc-the-hague-netherlands-duterte-drug-war-
killings
o https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/08/world/asia/philippines-duterte-
hague.html?smid=tw-nytimesworld&smtyp=cur
o http://www.amnesty.org.ph/news/icc-investigation-into-drug-killings-a-crucial-moment-
for-justice/
Regional Mechanisms
Textbook on Human Rights (Smith), Chapter 6: Regional Protection of Human Rights (pp. 122-132)
ASEAN Human Rights Declaration
http://www.asean.org/storage/images/ASEAN_RTK_2014/6_AHRD_Booklet.pdf
ASEAN Human Rights Declaration: A Step Forward or a Slide Backwards?
http://theconversation.com/asean-human-rights-declaration-a-step-forward-or-a-slide-backwards-
10895
ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights –
http://aichr.org/about/
PART II
March 5: Session 7
Right to Life: Death Penalty and Extrajudicial Killings
ICCPR Second Optional Protocol
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/2ndOPCCPR.aspx
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Philippines’ Bill to Re-introduce the Death Penalty
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/150445/un-ph-will-violate-intl-pact-restores-death-
penalty (see letter of UNHCHR Commissioner Zeid)
Extrajudicial, Summary, and Arbitrary Executions -
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Executions/Pages/InternationalStandards.aspx
Definition: The OHCHR defines extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions as the “deprivation of
life without full judicial and legal process, and with the involvement, complicity, tolerance or
acquiescence of the Government or its agents.” In 1980 the Sixth United Nations Congress on the
Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders condemned "the practice of killing and executing
political opponents or suspected offenders carried out by armed forces, law enforcement or other
governmental agencies or by paramilitary or political groups" acting with the support, tacit or otherwise,
of official forces or agencies.”
Fact Sheet on Extrajudicial, Summary and Arbitrary Executions
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/FactSheet11rev.1en.pdf
Report of the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary Or Arbitrary Executions: Mission to the
Philippines, Philip Alston (2008) http://www.hr-dp.org/contents/986
Administrative Order 35 (2012) http://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2012/11/22/administrative-
order-no-35-s-2012/