INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW

Academic Year 2026/2027 - Teacher: DANIELA FISICHELLA

Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, students are expected to develop advanced knowledge and understanding of international legal order, including subjects, norms and processes. In a multidisciplinary framework of the MA Study Course, IHRL make them distinguish between legal and political stances in the human rights narrative.

They will learn how to use international legal sources and the asymmetry between their formal and substantive effect, thus applying knowledge and understanding of international legal hierarchy. The course aims to develop students' skills to comparing events occurred in the international community with international legal acts, both binding and not binding. Each student should be able to detect all areas of the international legal order claiming to be applied every time, regardless each single fact and beyond all facets.

The final purpose is to bring students making judgements on both international and domestic decision-making face to objective threats and challenges.

On communication skills, students develop and share complex arguments notably in oral form whenever attending classes, while drafting a paper at the end of the course.

As for the learning skills, students will start from both the debate during lectures, requiring active participation to topics dealt with each time, and legal documents, acts, videos, interviews and any type of source made available by the instructor for the class.

The course aims to examine the specific characteristics of regional systems—extending beyond the Euro-Mediterranean area—and to explore issues surrounding European integration and Euro-Mediterranean relations. It seeks to foster independent research using social science methodologies, the ability to select relevant topics and offer critical insights during classroom presentations, and the capacity to construct well-founded critical arguments in written assignments and theses.

Additional objectives include training students to communicate orally in English within international academic and professional settings, to draft academic papers in English with clear objectives and effective argumentation, and to draw interdisciplinary connections while independently selecting relevant sources. Furthermore, the course enables students to read and comprehend advanced-level academic texts in English and to continuously update their knowledge in response to a rapidly changing landscape. In doing so, students gain mastery over the paradigms, key concepts, and theoretical debates central to the course disciplines, while also learning to engage in dialogue with other fields within the social sciences.

Course Structure

Classroom lectures.

Required Prerequisites

Basic knowledge of international law is recommended, though not mandatory. Notably during the first lectures, preliminary knowledge will be provided to facilitate understanding of the course topics. Indeed, students are welcome to ask the instructor for additional readings complementing the study program and specifically focusing on IL background.

Attendance of Lessons

Attendance is compulsory, with partial exemptions possible as per Glopem regulations. Only students arriving late due to the late granting of a visa may be admitted to the exams as non-attending students. They are invited to contact the instructor at the start of the course to agree on an equivalent set of tasks (a full oral exam on all course readings in place of participation to lectures, plus the final written and oral exam).

Detailed Course Content

Global and regional human rights guarantees.Hard law and soft law in the protection of fundamental human rights.

The course is organized in three parts:

1) Foundations of International Law and Introduction to IHRL (sessions 1-5): from the hierarchy of legal acts in IL to the extent of soft law in IHRL at the outset. United Nations General Assembly Resolutions. Students start to get acquainted with IL processes and lexicon used.

2) Analysis and comments to the most relevant treaties and conventions on IHRL under universal IL (sessions 6-10). Students are involved in interpreting the rules and regulations outlined therein.

3) Analysis and comments to regional treaties and conventions on IHRL in the regional systems (sessions 11-18). At this stage of the course, students are expected to be able to use suitable tools for interpretation and a cross-cutting perspective in the human rights enjoyment.

Textbook Information

R. Pisillo Mazzeschi, International Human Rights Law - Theory and Practice, Giappichelli, Springer, 2021, p. 17-32 (up to par. 2.3.5), p.125-133, p.179-544.

The text provides a comprehensive bibliography, including a long list of cases brought before international organs, helpful for choosing the topic for the final exam and to developing it. The most relevant material used for teaching activities will be uploaded to the course's Teams group (code: wi0zkxo).

Learning Assessment

Learning Assessment Procedures

Due to the mandatory attendance requirement, students are continuously assessed throughout the course relying on their active participation to lessons, their ability to relate real-world situations to the topics covered, and their capacity to apply the theoretical knowledge learnt to practical contexts. At the end of the course, students will submit a paper in accordance with the instructor's guidelines.

Type of assessment: combination of continuous assessment and a final exam (oral + written).

Learning assessment may also be carried out on-line, should the conditions require it.
To ensure equal opportunities and in compliance with current laws, interested students may request a personal interview in order to plan any compensatory and/or dispensatory measures based on educational objectives and specific needs.
Students can also contact the CInAP (Centro per l’integrazione Attiva e Partecipata – Servizi per le Disabilità e/o i DSA) referring teacher within their department (https://www.cinap.unict.it/content/referenti).

Structure and components (with weight):

‣ Class participation and continuous work – 40%: contributions to structured debates (as leaders and participants); constructive peer feedback on overall contributions.

‣ Ability to learn the legal method and consequent ability to apply it – 20%

‣ Final exam – 40%: a paper to be presented and discussed at exam sessions, submitted at least one week in advance and agreed with the instructor long before. The paper must include both universal and regional human rights law, through a comparison of systems concerned.

• Assessment criteria: grading follows the programme’s shared grading grid below (18–30 cum laude), based on knowledge of the topics, capacity to apply and discuss them critically, and clarity of exposition. A particular weight is given to the ability to connect knowledge of legal acts to empirical cases really occurred or feasible hypothetically.

• Attending / non-attending students: the continuous-assessment components assume attendance in accordance with Glopem regulations. Only students arriving late due to the late granting of a visa may be admitted to the exams as non-attending students. They are invited to contact the instructor at the start of the course to agree on an equivalent set of tasks (a full oral exam on all course readings in place of participation to lectures, plus the final written and oral exam).

Grading scale. Grading follows the programme’s shared grading grid (also published on the course website, notably for international students):
In Italy, grades for individual courses range from 18 (minimum pass) to 30 (maximum). The highest grade may be awarded with lode (cum laude, distinction) for outstanding performance. The scale is not directly convertible to percentages or GPA, but it is roughly comparable to “sufficient–excellent” ranges used internationally.

Band Level Descriptor

0–17 Failed: The student does not demonstrate knowledge of the basic concepts of the course and/or has not completed the required share of work.

18–20 Pass – Sufficient: The student demonstrates a very basic knowledge of the topics of the course but shows significant difficulties in discussing or applying them, with limited ca-
pacity to engage critically.

21–24 Fair – Discrete: The student demonstrates an adequate knowledge of the topics of the course and can engage with materials, cases, or discussions in a simple way, though often requiring guidance.

25–27 Good: The student demonstrates a solid knowledge of the topics of the course and can address assignments, case analyses, or discussions independently, with only minor inaccuracies.

28–30 Very Good – Excellent: The student demonstrates comprehensive knowledge of the topics of the course, engaging autonomously with any kind of sources, has skills to debate, and making appropriate connections across themes, with very few errors.

30 cum laude Distinction: The student demonstrates outstanding mastery of the course topics, addressing assignments and discussions with originality, critical insight, and virtually no
errors.

• Language: English.

Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises

Questions will be on the paper presented at exams as well as on topics covered during the lectures, notably regarding the comparison of rights within the universal and regional systems.

Sample questions: Civil and political rights in universal and regional international law. Social rights within the framework of human rights protection. Inequalities and discrimination in the protection of human rights. The functioning of international bodies within the system of human rights safeguards.

Degree Course in

Global Politics and Euro-Mediterranean Relations