70125 - International Law and Health

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student has an in-depth understanding of the relationship between international law and public health. The student becomes familiar with the principal issues of international health law, including the major international health Treaties and governing structures. The focus of the course is especially oriented on international institutions such as: the World Health Organization, UNAIDS, the World Trade Organization, the International Labor Organization, and the World Bank; and on the important role that those play in the international health governance and in the development of health regulation and policy. A comprehensive approach to international health law involves multiple, interrelated fields, including trade, economics, intellectual property, human rights, ethics, and national security. Through the unit, the student is trained to identify legal issues and to explore the tension between public goals and private rights and interests, and he/she is expected to apply the law to particular policy contexts and public health issues and to critically evaluate the laws effectiveness in protecting and promoting the public health.

Course contents

You are about to start with the course International Law and Health. 

The Right to Health (R2H) is an internationally recognized fundamental right that is protected in various international and regional treaties, which in turn are reflected in numerous domestic constitutions. In terms of international human rights law, this right is part of a broad category of rights termed Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ESCRs) that have only just recently begun to receive proper attention. As such this right is in a state of flux, the collective understanding of its scope and content is only just beginning to mature. In this regard, it is now acknowledged that the Right to Health has various linkages with other rights including Civil and Political Rights (CPRs). An illustration of this linkage is the right to equality which connects with the right to health on issues such as equal access for treatments in mutually reinforcing ways. In this regard, one can be even more specific and examine the rights of specific categories of persons, so-called vulnerable groups.

In this course the health rights of children, women, prisoners and the mentally ill will be looked. Another category of linkages is through the concept of underlying determinants; food is probably the most basic and an excellent example of this. The Right to Health also has a bearing on trade internationally and domestically; and while the ferocity has subsided somewhat, this connection continues to be an area of contestation.

The purpose of this course is to add a human rights dimension to the overall EUHEM program. Students will be introduced to the human rights framework with a view to enable them to conceptualize issues from a human rights perspective. A substantial portion of the course will then be spent on exploring the Right to Health through various regional and international mechanisms. After having considered health and human rights protection of so-called vulnerable groups (i.e. children, women, prisoners) in some detail, the focus finally shifts towards human rights case law. Since human rights protection is organized at various levels, attention is paid to United Nations human rights law as well as to human rights law as developed by the Council of Europe

 

Readings/Bibliography

Reading materials will be provided on a weekly basis. Literature links will be provided online.

 

Teaching methods

Oral lectures on campus, online teams sessions, seminars on campus, inlcuding Moot Court sessions

Assessment methods

Take home exam (4 open questions), 3 hours

Teaching tools

Oral lectures on campus, online teams sessions, seminars on campus, inlcuding Moot Court sessions

Office hours

See the website of Andre Pieter Den Exter

See the website of Maria Eva Foldes