Unit name | International Law of Labour and Social Rights |
---|---|
Unit code | LAWDM0136 |
Credit points | 30 |
Level of study | M/7 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
Unit director | Professor. Novitz |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | University of Bristol Law School |
Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
This unit is designed to introduce students to issues relating to the international protection of labour and social rights. The unit will examine controversies over the content and status of such rights. Students will also be expected to consider the significance of various international institutions deemed responsible for their protection, including the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Council of Europe (especially the European Social Charter) and the United Nations (including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights). The unit will additionally consider the role and efficacy of other regulatory sources, such as international financial institutions, clauses in trade agreements, corporate codes of conduct and global framework agreements. The role of private as well as state actors will also be considered. A historical approach will be adopted, which is alert to the social, economic and political concerns that have emerged over the past century.
At the end of the course of study a successful student should be able to:
Students will be expected to actively participate in ten two-hour seminars, to discuss assigned readings, to answer questions relating to the assigned readings and to carry out further research to support their evaluation of the materials. Seminars will include some legal problem questions, based upon practical and current legal issues. The summative assessments will test the student’s ability to evaluate and carry out further research in important issues relating to both institutional and substantive aspects of international labour law and human rights law.
The contact hours for this unit will be 30 hours. This will usually take the format of: 8 lectures, 10 two-hour seminars and 2 assessment preparation and feedback sessions.
Summative: a 2000 word essay (33%) will assess the candidate's ability to research a topic within the scope of this unit. The remaining Intended Learning Outcomes will be assessed in a 3 hour written examination (67%). Both assessments will assess all of the Intended Learning Outcomes for this unit in the context of topics selected by the examiners.
Formative: students should do one formative assessment (this will usually be 1 x 1500 word essay).
There is no single recommended textbook. The following will be helpful sources for reading in this unit:
Students will also be directed to online sources, journals articles and cases where relevant. These will be provided in their reading list which will be circulated before the course starts in the Autumn term.