Prof Kai Moller

This course is available on the Executive Master of Laws (ELLM). This course is not available as an outside option to students on other programmes.

This course is available on the Executive Master of Laws (ELLM). This course is not available as an outside option.

Available to Executive LLM students only. This course will be offered on the Executive LLM during the four year degree period. The Law School will not offer all Executive LLM courses every year, although some of the more popular courses may be offered in each year, or more than once each year. Please note that whilst it is the Law School's intention to offer all Executive LLM courses, its ability to do so will depend on the availability of the staff member in question. For more information please refer to the Law School website.

Some knowledge of human or constitutional rights law of any jurisdiction may be helpful, but is not essential. A knowledge of philosophy is not required.

Since the end of the Second World War, judicial review has flourished around the world: in many jurisdictions, courts have been given the power to strike down or declare inapplicable laws passed by the democratic legislature, if they conclude that the law in question violates fundamental rights. What is the point of this practice, and is it justifiable? This course introduces the students to contemporary theories of rights adjudication in a global context. Questions to be discussed include: What are the values on which rights are based – for example, personhood, freedom, equality, or dignity? Are rights principles, as Robert Alexy claims, or are they trumps, as Ronald Dworkin has famously argued? What is the role of the principle of proportionality in rights adjudication? Are there any absolute rights, such as freedom from torture, and can absolute rights be justified? Is the judicial protection of rights undemocratic, or is it consistent with or even required by democracy? Is the point of the judicial protection of rights the creation of a ‘culture of justification’? We will approach these questions by studying both case law and the work of some of the leading theorists of human and constitutional rights, trying to reconcile theory and practice.

24-26 hours of contact time.

Students will have the option of completing a formative assessment set by their teacher. 

The course will draw on both case law from various jurisdictions and scholarly literature, including articles and book chapters by authors including Ronald Dworkin, Robert Alexy, Mattias Kumm, Jeremy Waldron, and Frances Kamm.

Oral examination (100%).