COURSE

OUTLINE and MATERIALS

Week/Session Topic
Week 1 I. INTRODUCTION
A. What is Human Rights
B. Human Rights as Entitlements
C. What are the two types of entitlements
1. Positive Claim
2. Negative Claim
D. Monitoring Human Rights
1. Treaty Based Mechanism
a. State Reporting
b. Individual Communication
c. The implementation of findings of UN Human Rights Treaty bodies
d. Interstate Complaint
e. Individual Complaint
f. Inquiry Procedures

2. Charter Based Mechanism
The United Nations Charter-Based monitoring of human rights
g. Establishment of Human Rights Council
h. Complaints Mechanism
i. Universal Periodic Review
Special Procedures

Week 2 E. United Nations System
1. Organizational Structure of the United Nations
- General Assembly
- UN Security Council
- International Courts
- ECOSOC
- Human Rights Council

Week 3 II. REGIONAL SYSTEM OF HUMAN RIGHTS
a. The Council of Europe and Human Rights
b. The Organization of American States and Human Rights
c. The African Union and Human Rights


Week 4 IV. LIMITATIONS AND RESERVATIONS TO HUMAN RIGHTS
State Responsibility and Jurisdiction
National Territory and Effective Control
Extra-territorial obligations under international human rights law
The responsibility of states for the acts of the international organizations
The typology of States’ obligation and obligation to respect
a. Typology of States’ obligations
b. Rights of an absolute character
c. Regime of Rights which may be restricted
The application of human rights in private relationships and the obligation to
protect
d. The imputability to the State of the conduct of
non-state actors and the obligation to protect
e. Measuring the scope of the obligation to protect
II. The progressive realization of human rights and the obligation to
 fulfill
III. Derogations in time of public emergency
IV. Mechanism of Protection
a. Judicial Remedies
b. Non-judicial Mechanism

Week 5 V. OVERVIEW OF THE DIFFERENT HUMAN RIGHTS TREATES
Week 6 VI. ICCPR & ICESCR
Week 7 VII. CEDAW & CRC
Week 8 VIII. MWC, CAT & ICERD
I. Concept and Purpose of Interntaional Humanitarian Law
Week 9 A. International Humanitarian Law as a branch of international Law
B. Fundamental distinction between Jus ad Bellum and Jus in Bello
1. The prohibition on the use of force and exceptions
2. The inevitable tension between the prohibition of the use of
force and International Humanitarian law
3. Complete separation between jus ad bellum and jus in bello
a. reasons
b. consequences of the distinction
c. contemporary threats to the distinction
4. The distinction in non-international armed conflict

Week 10 II. International Humanitarian Law: a brand of International Law
Governing the Conduct of states and Individuals
A. Situations of Application
1. Qualifications not left to the parties of the conflict
2. International armed conflicts
3. Non-International armed conflict
4. Acts of terrorism
5. Other situations

B. Personal scope of application
C. Temporal scope of application
D. Geographical scope of application
E. Relations governed by international humanitarian law
1. Individual – State
2. State – State
- applicability of treaties
- ways to be bound
- declaration of intention
- interpretation
- reservations
- denunciations
- amendments
3. Individual – Individual


Week 11 III. Sources of Contemporary International Humanitarian Law
A. Treaties
1. Hague Conventions
2. Four Geneva Conventions of 1949
3. Two Additional Protocols of 1977

B. Customary Law
 C. Fundamental Principles of International Humanitarian Law
1. The Martens Clause
2. Principles of International Humanitarian Law
a. humanity
b. necessity
c. proportionality
d. distinction
e. prohibition of causing unnecessary suffering
f. independence of jus in bello from jus ad bellum

Week 12 IV. Fundamental Distinction between Civilians and Combatants
A. Activities
B. Rights
C. Punishable
D. Protection
E. The fundamental obligation of combatants to distinguish
themselves from the civilian population


Week 13 V. Combatants and Prisoners of War
A. Who is a combatant
1. A member of the armed forces lato sensu
2. Levee en masse
3. Exceptions: - spies
- saboteurs
- mercenaries
- terrorists
B. Who is a prisoner of war
1. Presumption of combatant and prisoner-of-war status
2. Status of Unlawful Combatants
3. Treatment of prisoners of war
C. Transmission of Information
D. Monitoring by outside Mechanism
E. Repatriation of prisoners of war



Week 14 VI. The Law of Non-International Armed Conflict
A. Definition of Non-International Armed Conflict
B. Comparision of the Legal Regimes for International Armed
Conflict and Non-International Armed Conflict
1. Fundamental Difference to protected person status
2. Similarities
- protection of all those who do not and are no longer
taking part in the hostilities
- the wounded and the sick
- prohibition of rape and sexual violence
- treatment of detainees
- judicial guarantees
C. The Rules of Common Article 3 and of Protocol II
1. Principles under Common Article 3
- non-discrimination
- humane treatment
- judicial guarantees
- obligation to collect and care for the wounded
 2. Rules under Protocol II
D. Customary Law on Non-International Armed Conflict
E. Applicability of the General Principles on the Conduct of
Hostilities
1. Principle of Distinction
2. Principle of Military Necessity
3. Principle of Proportionality
4. Right to relief
5. Necessity of look into the law of international Armed conflict
and the Human Rights Law
F. Necessity of Analogies with the Law of International Armed
Conflicts
G. Different types of non-international armed conflicts
H. Who is bound by the law of non-international armed conflict


Week 15 VII. Implementation of IHL

Week 16 VIII. The Rome Statute and International Criminal Court
A. Definition of Crimes
- The concept of grave breaches of IHL and concept of
war crimes
- The extension of the concept of grave breaches to
non-international armed conflicts
- The repression of violation of International
Humanitarian Law which are not grave breaches
- Crimes against humanity
- Genocide
B. Participation in war crims
C. Defenses
D. The prosecution of war crimes


REFERENCES AND MATERIALS

Principal References:

Each student must have a copy of the following:

1. Charter of the United Nations
2. Universal Declaration of Human Rights
3. UN Human Rights Conventions
4. 1987 Philippines Constitution
5. Geneva Conventions I-IV and Optional Protocols 1& 2
6. Rome Statute
7. Republic Act 9851

Topical Readings and Other Assignments
Reference
Laguna lake Development Authority vs. Court of Appeals, 231 SCRS 292)
Bayan vs Zamora GR Nos 138570, 138572, 138587, 148680
 Lim vs. Executive Secretary G.R. No. 151445 April 11, 2002
Pimentel vs. Executive Secretary 462 SCRA 622
Nicaragua vs. United States ICJ Reports 1986
North Sea Continental Shelf cases ICJ Reports 1969
Australia vs. France; New Zealand v. France, ICJ 1974
X and Church of Scientology vs. Sweden
Barcelona Traction, Light and Power Company ICJ Report 1970
Loizidou vs. Turkey
Case of Paco Laranaga vs. the Philippines
Karen Vertido case
Mahmut Kaya vs. Turkey



Dusko Tadic vs. the Appeals Chamber
Prosecutor vs General Tihomir Blaskic

Prosecutor v. Kordic and Cerkez, Case No. IT-95-14/2 (Trial Chamber), February 26,
2001. Prosecutor v. Kunarac, Kovac and Vokovic, Case No. IT-96-23 and IT-96-23/1
(Appeals Chamber), June 12, 2002.

Prosecutor v. Akayesu, Case No. ICTR-96-4-T (Trial Chamber), September 2, 1998.

Prosecutor v. Kambanda, Case No. ICTR-97-23 (Trial Chamber), September 4, 1998.