Module Information
Module Identifier
CR31120
Module Title
Criminology of Human Rights Violations
Academic Year
2014/2015
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 2
Other Staff
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Lecture | 20 hours total |
| Lecture | |
| Seminars / Tutorials | 6hrs: 3 x 2hr sessions |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | Essay of 1500 words to be submitted at end of appropriate semester | 50% |
| Semester Exam | 1.5 Hours Exam (SEEN). Candidates are not permitted to bring any books, notes or any other materials into the examination. | 50% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Essay of 1500 words - if essay element failed | 50% |
| Supplementary Exam | 1.5 Hours Exam (SEEN) - if exam element failed. Candidates are not permitted to bring any books, notes or any other materials into the examination. | 50% |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module, students should be able to.
1. Show a critical understanding of the areas of state use of force and other human rights violations.
2. Critically assess the activities involved and their effects on society both nationally and internationally.
3. Analyse and evaluate the reasons for violations at individual and group levels.
4 Critically assess the legal control and enforcement of the activities and consider the effect of these interventions on society both nationally and internationally.
5. Critically assess the physical mechanisms for control and enforcement of the activities and consider the effect of these interventions on society both nationally and internationally.
6. Critically assess moral, political, popular and media discourses on human rights violations.
7. Evaluate whether the reasons for the violations and the way in which they are addressed is logical and likely to reduce such violations.
8. Evaluate the influence of alterations in legal and political power and the structure of international society on the causes of human rights violations.
9. Evaluate the influence of alterations in legal and political power and the structure of international society on perceptions of the problem and means of dealing with it.
10. Relate the conceptual ideas discussed on the module to specific case studies.
Brief description
Module rationale and content
1 Academic rationale of the proposal:
This module provides an analytical foundation for an understanding of the criminology of human rights and human rights violations and for an analysis of their legal, political and moral contexts.
2 Brief Description:
The module will consider human rights atrocities and violations of human rights by states, state agents and other actors throughout the world. It will concentrate on reasons for and explanations of the violations both at individual and group levels. It will analyse the effectiveness of national and international legal controls and study the enforcement mechanisms utilized by both national and international agents to prevent, control and punish such activities. It also introduces students to the moral discourses involved and to an assessment of the practical effects of these violations both nationally and more broadly.
3 Content:
1 Academic rationale of the proposal:
This module provides an analytical foundation for an understanding of the criminology of human rights and human rights violations and for an analysis of their legal, political and moral contexts.
2 Brief Description:
The module will consider human rights atrocities and violations of human rights by states, state agents and other actors throughout the world. It will concentrate on reasons for and explanations of the violations both at individual and group levels. It will analyse the effectiveness of national and international legal controls and study the enforcement mechanisms utilized by both national and international agents to prevent, control and punish such activities. It also introduces students to the moral discourses involved and to an assessment of the practical effects of these violations both nationally and more broadly.
3 Content:
- Human rights violations as a criminological phenomenon and the relation between human rights protection and criminal law.
- Historical legal background: the emergence of international criminal law and special international jurisdictions.
- Categories of offending conduct: 'atrocity offences' and 'international crimes'.
- Critical evaluation of the use of criminal responsibility to deal with atrocity.
- Other types of process: compensation, amnesty, truth and reconciliation, moral and social reconstruction programmes.
- Preventive strategies.
- Explanations: biological explanations, political structures, economic and environmental stress.
- The psychology of atrocity.
- Experience from the special jurisdictions.
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | Understanding and evaluating relevant quantitative research data will be a small part of the module |
| Communication | Oral communication skills will be encouraged in and honed in seminars and also in lectures through interactive learning - not assessed. Written communication skills will be practised through note taking both in lectures and private study and in formal submission of written work in assignments and examinations |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | Students will be encouraged to practise and test their own learning and ability to use and interact with the materials through interactive leaning in both lectures and seminars. |
| Information Technology | Preparation for seminars, the assignments and the examination will all require use of the library databases and other electronic databases. Students will be referred to useful urls and be encouraged to retrieve data electronically - not assessed. Students will be encouraged to prepare their assignment electronically - not assessed. |
| Personal Development and Career planning | Enhanced capacity for independent and critical thought. Good time-management skills in preparing for seminars and submitting work on time - not assessed. |
| Problem solving | Much of the module involves the study of theories developed to explain certain types of behaviour. It also includes consideration of present means of control. Students will have to assess these and combine them to solve specific case studies. |
| Research skills | Criminology necessarily involves an interdisciplinary approach therefore students will be introduced to research tools in a number of different subject areas. They will be supported and encouraged to build research skills over these areas. They will be encouraged to read widely and to locate materials both in the library and on-line. |
| Subject Specific Skills | |
| Team work | This will be developed through exercises in preparation for and during seminars and in exercises and problems set in lectures. |
Reading List
Essential ReadingAlvarez, Alex. (c2001.) Governments, citizens, and genocide :a comparative and interdisciplinary approach /Alex Alvarez. Indiana University Press Primo search Drumbl, Mark A. (2007.) Atrocity, punishment, and international law /Mark A. Drumbl. Cambridge University Press Primo search Recommended Text
(2001.) The Kosovo tragedy :the human rights dimensions /editor, Ken Booth. Frank Cass Primo search Arendt, Hannah (1994.) Eichmann in Jerusalem :a report on the banality of evil /[by] Hannah Arendt. Rev. and enl. ed. Penguin Books Primo search Bloxham, Donald. (2001.) Genocide on trial :the war crimes trials and the formation of Holocaust history and memory /Donald Bloxham. Oxford University Press Primo search Brackman, Arnold C. (1989, c1987.) The other Nuremberg :the untold story of the Tokyo war crimes trials /Arnold C. Brackman. Collins Primo search Cassese, Antonio (Jan. 2002) The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court:A Commentary Oxford University Press, Incorporated Primo search Cassese, Antonio. (2008.) International criminal law /Antonio Cassese. 2nd ed. Oxford University Press Primo search Chigara, Ben (March 2002) Amnesty in International Law Pearson Education Primo search Diamond, Jared M. (1992, c1991.) The rise and fall of the third chimpanzee /Jared Diamond. Class Mark GN281.D5 in Library New ed. Vintage Primo search Douglas, Lawrence (Oct. 2010) The Memory of Judgement:Making Law and History in the Trials of the Holocaust Yale University Press Primo search Hagan, John (c2003.) Justice in the Balkans :prosecuting war crimes in the Hague Tribunal /John Hagan. University of Chicago Press Primo search Harding, Christopher (2007.) Criminal enterprise :individuals, organisations and criminal responsibility /Christopher Harding. Chapter 7 Willan Pub. Primo search Haveman, Roelof (Oct. 2006) Sentencing and Sanctioning in Supranational Criminal Law Intersentia Uitgevers N.V. Primo search Hazan, Pierre. (2004.) Justice in a time of war :the true story behind the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia /by Pierre Hazan ; translated from the French by James Thomas Snyder ; foreword by M. Cherif Bassiouni. 1st ed. Texas A & M University Press Primo search Jorgensen, Nina H. B. (2002.) The responsibility of states for international crimes /Nina H.B. Jorgensen. Oxford University Press Primo search Kuper, Leo. (1981.) Genocide /Leo Kuper. Penguin Primo search Kuper, Leo. (1986.) The prevention of genocide /Leo Kuper. Yale Primo search May, Larry. (2008.) Aggression and crimes against peace /Larry May. Cambridge University Press Primo search May, Larry. (2007.) War crimes and just war /Larry May. Cambridge University Press Primo search Minear, Richard H. (1971.) Victors' justice :the Tokyo war crimes trial. Princeton University Press Primo search Moghalu, Kingsley. (2005.) Rwanda's genocide :the politics of global justice /by Kingsley Chiedu Moghalu. Palgrave Macmillan Primo search Papadatos, Peter. (1964.) The Eichmann trial /by Peter Papadates. Stevens Primo search Scharf, Michael P. (2002.) Slobodan Milosevic on trial :a companion /Michael P. Scharf, William A. Schabas. Continuum Primo search Simpson, Gerry J. (2007 (various p) Law, war & crime :war crimes trials and the reinvention of international law /Gerry Simpson. Polity Primo search Stephen, Chris (2004.) Judgement day :the trial of Slobodan Milo sevi c /Chris Stephen. Atlantic Books Primo search Wagenaar, Willem Albert (1988.) Identifying Ivan :a case study in legal psychology. Harvard University Press Primo search West, Rebecca. (1955.) A train of powder /Rebecca West. Macmillan Primo search Recommended Consultation
http://69.94.11.53 Recommended Consultation - Special Court Web Sites www.icc-cpi/home Recommended Consultation - Special Court Web Sites Primo search www.icty.org Recommended Consultation - Special Court Web Sites Primo search www.specialcourt.org Recommended Consultation - Special Court Web Sites Primo search www.sudbih.gov.ba Recommended Consultation - Special Court Web Sites Primo search
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6