MS Teams channels and meetings
Course description
This course provides an introduction to the topic of human rights in the European Union (EU). First, it situates the issue in the context of the broader framework of human rights conceptualizations in Europe and describes the specifics of the European approach to human rights. Then, the course covers the specific situation of progressively developing significance of human rights in the EC/EU as a non-state entity. The course focuses primarily on the case-law of the Court of Justice and secondarily on input from other institutions. Finally, the course deals with contemporary questions connected to the evolving position of human rights in the EU, such as the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and its effects, the delayed accession of the EU to the European Convention on Human Rights, or the Art. 7 mechanism. It will also highlight practical difficulties when European and national law clash.
Guest lectures by practitioners from the Czech apex courts will enrich the course. A Utrecht University expert will contribute to the class by holding a special seminar, either in Brno or via an e-presentation.
Objectives of the course
At the end of the course, students will be well acquainted with the issue of human rights in Europe, especially in the European Union, both from the perspective of legal and political science. They will be able to understand the expansion of the issue of human rights in the EU and its current limits. Students will become familiar with essential judgments dealing with human rights, which will, in addition to the knowledge gained from the substance of the texts, greatly enhance their abilities to read more complicated legal documents. They will also learn about the essential role which considerations of human rights play in legal and political debates in Europe.
Form of teaching and students’ assignments
The course consists of lectures combined with seminars, including class discussions. Students are expected to read all compulsory readings (articles or book chapters and cases) in advance in order to actively participate in class discussions.
In order to successfully pass the course, students must fulfil ALL requirements:
1) Pass the final written test (min. 20 points out of max. 40 points, i.e. 50 %) which will be held via the internet and will last 28 hours. It will thoroughly test your knowledge and the ability to apply it.
2) Submit six position papers before the class (Sunday noon) and actively participate in class discussions (6 x max. 3 points for position paper, for each discussion, students can get 1 point; ie. 12x1 max points for discussion; total max. 30 points). Delivery of all six position papers is necessary. The class will be divided into two groups, one delivers papers in even weeks, one in odd weeks.
3) Participate in 2 group projects (2 x max. 15 points, total max. 30 points). In groups of three, you are going to write a short paper (approx. 6 standard pages) on an interesting issue – you can be, e.g., asked to comment on a new judgment of the EU Court of Justice etc.
Deadlines for team projects: 12 November, noon 2023 (TP1) and 7 December 2023 (TP2).
Group project 2 homework vault
Note on position papers
Length: 2700 characters (1.5 standard pages, +/- 10 %) for every second seminar;
Content: position papers should include a critique of the readings and questions for discussion (e.g. based on issues you have not understood properly, you want to know more about, etc.).
Structure: position papers should have two clearly identified sections:
1. Critique
2. Questions
Please follow this structure.
You will be submitting position papers either on odd or on even weeks. Please, select the group where you will stay until the end of the term here: https://is.muni.cz/tudle/soyv
You can make your choice until 22 September midnight.
Position papers should be inserted into a proper folder in “Homework vaults” and the number of the paper (1 to 12) in the IS (Information System) no later than 11.59 a.m. on Sunday before the seminar.
Final Grading
The final grade consists of the final written test (40 %) and assessment of position papers (30 %) and team projects (30 %):
“A” grade 93 – 100 points
“B” grade 84 – 92 points
“C” grade 75 – 83 points
“D” grade 67 – 74 points
“E” grade 66 – 60 points
“F” grade less than 60 points
Criteria of Evaluation
Position papers: persuasiveness of argumentation, logical coherence of arguments and the transparent structure of the paper, finding methodological flaws in the assigned literature, creativity, formal requirements (length and referring to sources if any are used);
Team projects: persuasiveness of argumentation, logical coherence of arguments and the transparent structure of the paper, creativity, binding the project to the overall framework of the course, formal requirements (length and referring to sources if any are used);
Final test: persuasiveness of argumentation, logical coherence of arguments and the transparent structure of the paper, creativity, binding the answer to the overall framework of the course, formal requirements (referring to sources).
Instructor: Katarína Šipulová (katarina.sipulova@law.muni.cz)