The Basics of Human Rights Law
Human rights law is a pivotal area of jurisprudence that has gained significant traction in recent years as a field of study for those pursuing legal degrees. At the heart of human rights law is the idea that certain rights and freedoms are inherent to every human being, dignity that cannot be alienated by the state or other entities. As global issues such as immigrant rights, income inequality, domestic violence, and free expression continue to evolve at unprecedented rates, the demand for legal professionals equipped with expert knowledge in human rights law is of the utmost importance.
Human rights law education takes a global perspective, covering international treaties and conventions, national and regional legislation, the role of non-state actors in the effectiveness of international human rights , and the dynamic between human rights law and other areas such as business, the environment, and development. Through theory and practical experience, students deepen their understanding of contemporary global concerns and develop critical thinking skills that help them navigate complex issues at the local, national, and international levels.
By specializing in human rights, students gain the ability to pursue various career paths in the private or government sectors, including in law firms, NGOs, corporations, and public service roles. With the exponential growth of the human rights movement and the recognition of their necessity to a fair and just legal system, top law schools offer a variety of rigorous training programs and resources for students eager to make their mark in this important field.
How to Choose the Best Law School
A standout law school for human rights law will have a significant group of full-time faculty who are leading experts in the field. A close tie between the faculty members and practitioners currently working in the field is also key. Course offerings will put an emphasis on and go beyond human rights law and cover aspects like international and transitional justice. Clinics and special programs such as national security and human rights, human rights at the local level, counterterrorism and human security, housing rights, and economic development are important. All of these factors combine to make a law school serve their students by teaching them to work in the field of human rights law.
Harvard Law School: Human Rights Leader
Harvard Law School boasts one of the most prestigious human rights programs in the world. The human rights program at Harvard Law School is one of the oldest in the United States, and the highly developed intellectual framework and unparalleled diversity of practical experiences that the program offers is unrivaled among law schools in the country. The core of the program is the Human Rights Program Seminar, a yearlong reading course taken by students and faculty who work in a variety of substantive areas across all three of Harvard’s graduate schools. The seminar aims to provide an understanding of the ways in which human rights law has developed and has been applied by a range of scholars and practitioners – both foreign and domestic – and how it affects the lives of people throughout the world today. Some of the issues the class has focused on have been on economic rights, HIV/AIDS, civil and political rights, and the implications of globalization on both the law and its impact on different populations around the world. The seminar has also included guest speakers from around the world who have come to speak on a range of different issues that relate to human rights law and its impact, providing students an opportunity to learn about human rights concerns and controversies from varying perspectives. Faculty who teach the course have included Alexander S. Aleinikoff, Dean of the Georgetown University Law Center; Richard C. Leone, chairman of Princeton’s Julia Stearns Smith Fund; and Michael Walzer, University Professor at Princeton University. Along with the seminar, the program also includes weekly meetings that provide students an opportunity for individual consultation with faculty members on the kinds of issues and cases that they are engaged in. Because these meetings are individualized, faculty members are able to devote significant time to guiding and consulting on the work of the law students they work with throughout the semester. The meetings have been found to be an important part of developing a student’s understanding of and commitment to working in human rights law, and many of the program’s faculty members have served as mentors to students who have gone on to teach and practice in the human rights field. In addition to the seminar, the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School also provides a wide variety of extracurricular activities available to students. These include guest speakers, conferences, panel discussions, and career information sessions. Throughout the year, the school also sponsors a wide variety of collaborative projects with other schools and organizations, which have included partnerships with the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, The Fletcher School at Tufts University, Boston University School of Law, and Yale Law School. Through these collaborations, students have had opportunities to engage with a larger community of those interested in the field.
Columbia Law School: Top Rate Human Rights Program
Towards the northern end of Manhattan is Columbia Law School, a pioneer in the field of human rights law. With its multiple centers dedicated to law-related research, the school allows students to play an active role in its development and expansion. At Columbia, students work closely with faculty in both a collaborative and research-centered environment and are encouraged to contribute their own ideas and expertise to their particular area of interest.
For those students with a keen interest in human rights, the Human Rights Institute at Columbia Law School is designed to meet their needs. As a central resource on the subject, the Human Rights Institute works closely with New York-based NGOs, activists, scholars, and governmental organizations to develop key legal and policy frameworks for the prevention and monitoring of human rights abuse. It also holds various education and outreach programs, as part of their commitment to publicizing their work and sharing their contribution to the body of knowledge on human rights.
Offering a wide variety of programs and events to promote student involvement with active global issues, the Human Rights Institute has raised awareness on subjects such as the rights of "enemy combatants" held by the United States government in Guantanamo Bay and Bagram, reopening the Cuban Guantanamo naval base, and the legal issues surrounding the US-led invasion of Iraq.
Stanford Law School: Graduate Leading the Charge in Human Rights
Stanford Law School (SLS) may be best known for its strong technology and intellectual property programs, but the school is also engaging in innovative approaches to human rights law education and advocacy.
The Mills Legal Clinic at Stanford Law School gives students the opportunity to serve all over the world. The clinic is divided into three branches: Criminal and Juvenile Justice (with a focus on the criminal justice system in California), Immigrants’ Rights (with a focus on immigrants’ rights along the U.S.-Mexico border), and International Human Rights and Conflict Resolution. The latter branch is the one focuses on international human rights law. Some of the recent projects this branch of the clinic has engaged in include work in Bangladesh, Colombia, Guatemala, Kenya, Iran, Nepal, and Uganda. Its mission focuses on the advancement of international human rights law and social justice through the provision of pro bono legal services.
The Global Digital Policy Incubator (GDPI) brings together policymakers and technologists in order to solve challenging global digital policy dilemmas on an interdisciplinary basis. It is a 10-month fellowship for selected early-career professionals that runs from September to June. In the past, fellows have worked with individuals such as Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg.
Finally, the Global Health and Human Rights Lecture Series aims to "bring together leaders in health and human rights to explore cross-cutting concerns relating to health and human rights, the role of governments and NGOs, and new directions for research." This is just another example of how SLS is continuing to demonstrate their leadership in scholarship and in advocacy.
Yale Law School: The Cutting Edge of Human Rights Academia
Continuing the trend of scholarly excellence, Yale Law School has established itself as one of the leading academic institutions in terms of human rights law. Its research initiatives are from the pioneering to the new, with less development in topics such as international law and the war on terror. Professor Harold Hongju Koh, one of the major advocates of human rights law , has greatly influenced the school’s research strengths. The significant increase in funding for students and faculty in these areas of law has also led to Yale’s growing reputation for excellence in particular facets of human rights law. Already the second most desirable law school at which to study within the US, Yale Law School has a history of fostering future leaders in the field. With President Bill Clinton’s controversial appointment of then-Deputy Dean of Yale Law School, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, to the Supreme Court, Yale Law School has consistently been proven to be a training ground for world-renowned scholars, attorneys and judges.
University of Essex: Global Human Rights Education
On the subject of international law and human rights, no western organization, including the United Nations, can afford to ignore the University of Essex. Founded in 1964, it has become the most influential centre in the world for the study of law and human rights. In its own words, The University of Essex is a ‘global leader in the provision of intellectual and specialist expertise on the law of human rights, conflict and development.’ So much so, that the UN’s International Law Commission (ILC) now offers a unique post-graduate qualification to University of Essex law students through a mentorship scheme that began in 2013, as well as a standard post-graduate course on the ILC and its role in the development of international law.
Part of the university’s appeal is its involvement in human rights issues on the ground. In 2008, it launched Uni:4U, an initiative to give asylum seekers in the UK free tuition. Today, with a team of eight, the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Essex is seen as the world’s leading research institution in the field of international law and human rights.
An impressive list of alumni includes the former Chief Justice of Ghana, the former President of the Supreme Court of Dominican Republic and the former Chair of Constitutional Court of Greece. Geir S. Almåsvik, Government Attorney and Head of the Department for Human Rights and International Law at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also studied and participated in research projects in human rights at Essex.
Additional Excellent Human Rights Law Schools
King’s College London – School of Law: King’s College London is a leader in promoting the understanding and development of fundamental rights. The King’s College School of Law is focused on the research and practice of international human rights law. The University of London Institute in Paris, which became part of King’s College London in 2016, has degrees and programs that incorporate a focus on European and international human rights law. It offers the world’s oldest dual degree program in law in collaboration with Université Panthéon-Assas in Paris. Like the University of Amsterdam, the King’s College University of London Institute in Paris location is known for its strong presence in the International Program Consortium on Law and Development.
University of Sussex – Brighton, United Kingdom: The Law School at the University of Sussex offers an LLM specializing in international human rights law but is also renowned for research in the area of forced migration, impartial truth and justice, criminology and transnational law.
Central European University – Budapest, Hungary: Central European University (CEU) was founded in 1991 as an independent graduate university focused on teaching and research in the social sciences and humanities. CEU’s Department of Legal Studies offers brief courses and large degree programs in law and human rights. CEU is particularly well-known for its programs in human rights and social justice law.
National University of Ireland Galway – Galway, Ireland: The National University of Ireland, Galway is renowned for its focus on developing human rights law scholars. The International Human Rights Clinic of NUI Galway offers practical training for student participants while providing free legal advice to vulnerable clients. Students have also visited Ghana in recent years "to observe the workings and challenges of the States systems for protecting human rights."
University of Notre Dame – Notre Dame, Indiana, United States: The University of Notre Dame’s Human Rights Center brings together scholars, practitioners, advocates and governments to provide interdisciplinary approaches to some of the most disconcerting challenges of our time. The Center offers an LLM program focused on international human rights law, and the International Human Rights Advocacy Program, which sends Notre Dame law students to intern at various top-tier locations around the world.
Law School Selection
A prospective student should consider their career goals when choosing a law school, and whether a human rights program fits those objectives. While all of the law schools listed below provide a comprehensive education and opportunities in international human rights law, the way in which they approach the subject matter varies. Some schools, like American University Washington College of Law, for example, have a specialty in human rights and work with the organization, Advocates for Human Rights, to provide legal expertise to organizations in need within the District of Columbia . They also host a summer program in Ghana which provides students with field legal experience in an international capacity. Other schools, such as Cornell Law School and their International Human Rights Clinic, bring their expertise in business and private sector legal education to the cause. Cornell students are experience in organizational matters, corporate structures and non-transactional law, which is increasingly important to the development of human rights law and practice.