Bringing together human rights researchers, practitioners and policy-makers from across the globe
Please also see the Human Rights page on the main Oxford Law Faculty site for other information about these courses.
The objective of the course is to provide a thorough grounding in the application of the European Convention on Human Rights. The primary aim is to introduce students to the substance of Convention rights and to their interpretation and enforcement, including the relevant jurisprudence of the European Court on Human Rights. This will include an analysis of general principles as well as broad themes arising from the interpretation and limits of several specific Convention rights (such as fair trial, protection of private life, and non-discrimination). Other European conventions and institutions will be referred to when relevant. By the end of the course, students will: have a sound understanding of the significance of human rights and civil liberties, and their theoretical dimensions, in Europe; be familiar with and able to apply the relevant provisions of the ECHR to practical problems concerning a range of the rights and liberties; have a knowledge and understanding of the European Human Rights system as a whole and the place of the Convention in that system; and have an understanding of the institutional procedural requirements for bringing human rights claims under the ECHR. Teaching will take place over Michaelmas and Hilary Terms, and will consist of a combination of lectures, seminars, classes and tutorials.
Issues in labour law affect most people during their working lives. What rights does a worker have if he or she is dismissed? Is there a right to strike? What can the law do about discrimination? This is a rapidly changing field, particularly in the past decade, which has witnessed a transformation in labour law. Most major industrial disputes are now fought out in the courts rather than on the shop-floor, in stark contrast with the traditional view that strikes are best resolved by the parties themselves. Of growing importance is the impact of EU law on British labour law, particularly in the field of discrimination. Labour law will be of considerable interest to anyone who is concerned with the interaction between law, politics and society. All British governments in recent decades have regarded policies on labour law as central to their political programmes.
Labour Law is also useful in practice. Many young barristers acquire invaluable experience by appearing before employment tribunals; and most solicitors’ firms, whether in the City or elsewhere, require specialists in employment law. It remains truer than ever that “the law governing labour relations is one of the centrally important branches of the law - the legal basis on which the very large majority of people earn their living. No-one should be qualified as a lawyer - professionally or academically - who has not mastered its principles.” (Kahn-Freund).
The course covers the law concerning individual employment law (including discrimination law), as well as trade unions, industrial action and collective bargaining. The student is not expected to acquire a detailed knowledge of the whole of this relatively large and complex field, but to pick out the central themes, and integrate them into a wider social and theoretical context.
