1. Home
  2. Human Rights Law [LAW3855]

School: Business and Law

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

  • Unit Title

    Human Rights Law

  • Unit Code

    LAW3855

  • Year

    2026

  • Enrolment Period

    1

  • Version

    3

  • Credit Points

    15

  • Full Year Unit

     N

  • Mode of Delivery

    On Campus
    Online

  • Unit Coordinator

    Dr Mostafa NASER

Description

This unit provides a comprehensive exploration of the historical evolution, theoretical foundations, and conceptual frameworks underpinning human rights. It critically examines the international, regional, and national legal mechanisms designed to protect against human rights violations, analyzing how effectively these instruments operate across different jurisdictions. Through comparative study, students will evaluate the strengths and limitations of various legislative frameworks, engaging in topical discussions on issues such as refugees’ rights, Indigenous rights, discrimination based on race, origin, class, or caste, and the problem of modern slavery in Australia. By the end of the unit, students will be equipped with the analytical tools and legal knowledge required to identify human rights issues and apply the relevant legal principles to advocate for effective remedies.

Prerequisite Rule

Students must have passed LAW2345.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

  1. Examine critical individual rights in modern societies.
  2. Analyse the impact of the cultural, political and social context on the enactment and interpretation of individual rights.
  3. Evaluate First Australian and other diverse cultures' needs with respect to domestic and international human rights.

Unit Content

  1. Introduction to human rights law - historical development, concept and theories of human rights.
  2. Substantive rights - civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.
  3. Protection and enforcement of human rights - international, regional and state levels.
  4. Australian human rights law and practice.
  5. Special topics in human rights - rights of refugees and indigenous people.
  6. Human rights and modern slavery.
  7. Human rights in armed conflict.
  8. Contemporary and emerging human rights issues.

Learning Experience

ON-CAMPUS

Students will attend on campus classes as well as engage in learning activities through ECU's LMS

City CampusJoondalupSouth West (Bunbury)
Semester 113 x 2 hour lectureNot OfferedNot Offered
Semester 113 x 1 hour tutorialNot OfferedNot Offered

For more information see the Semester Timetable

ONLINE

Students will engage in learning experiences via ECU’s LMS as well as additional ECU learning technologies

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

ON CAMPUS
TypeDescriptionValue
ExerciseTutorial Submission20%
Research PaperResearch Essay30%
ExaminationFinal Examination50%
ONLINE
TypeDescriptionValue
ExerciseTutorial Submission20%
Research PaperResearch Essay30%
ExaminationFinal Examination50%

Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)

For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Access and Inclusion website.

Assessment

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. Informal vivas may be conducted as part of an assessment task, where staff require further information to confirm the learning outcomes have been met. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

Academic Integrity

Integrity is a core value at Edith Cowan University, and it is expected that ECU students complete their assessment tasks honestly and with acknowledgement of other people's work as well as any generative artificial intelligence tools that may have been used. This means that assessment tasks must be completed individually (unless it is an authorised group assessment task) and any sources used must be referenced.

Breaches of academic integrity can include:

  • Plagiarism: Copying the words, ideas or creative works of other people or generative artificial intelligence tools, without referencing in accordance with stated University requirements. Students need to seek approval from the Unit Coordinator within the first week of study if they intend to use some of their previous work in an assessment task (self-plagiarism).
  • Unauthorised collaboration (collusion): Working with other students and submitting the same or substantially similar work or portions of work when an individual submission was required. This includes students knowingly providing others with copies of their own work to use in the same or similar assessment task(s).
  • Contract cheating: Organising a friend, a family member, another student or an external person or organisation (e.g. through an online website) to complete or substantially edit or refine part or all of an assessment task(s) on their behalf.
  • Cheating in an exam: Using or having access to unauthorised materials in an exam or test.

Serious outcomes may be imposed if a student is found to have committed one of these breaches, up to and including expulsion from the University for repeated or serious acts.

ECU's policies and more information about academic integrity can be found on the student academic integrity website.

All commencing ECU students are required to complete the Academic Integrity Module.

Assessment Extension

In some circumstances, Students may apply to their Unit Coordinator to extend the due date of their Assessment Task(s) in accordance with ECU's Assessment Procedure - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000001386.

Special Consideration

Students may apply for Special Consideration in respect of a final unit grade, where their achievement was affected by Exceptional Circumstances as set out in the Assessment Procedure - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000003318.

LAW3855|3|1