Official Launch of Oxford Human Rights Hub & Open Society Foundations Online Course: 'Learning Lessons from Litigators'

The Oxford Human Rights Hub (OxHRH), in partnership with the Open Society Foundations and supported by the Economic & Social Research Council Impact Acceleration Awards, has created a free online resource - 'Learning Lessons from Litigators: Realising the Right to Education Through Public Interest Lawyering.' This four-module online course will be available for anyone engaged in campaigning, advocating or litigating for the right to education, especially in the context of privatisation of education, on the potential and risks of litigation and how it can complement other forms of activism.

On Wednesday, OxHRH lauched Module 1 of the course with a live screening in Oxford at the Rhodes House and a live online broadcast for viewers all over the world. 

The course aims to:

·       To share the experience of using strategic litigation in relation to the right to education which has been gleaned in campaigns in several jurisdictions so that others can draw on that experience to decide whether and how to use litigation in the optimal way.

·       To demonstrate the potential of international human rights mechanisms as a further complement to other forms of activism, especially in relation to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the relevant treaty bodies, as well and regional human rights courts and treaty bodies such as the European Court of Human Rights and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child

·       To open up the possibilities of extrapolating from the experience of strategic litigation and the use of international human rights mechanisms in relation to other human rights.

Module 1 covers an introduction to the challenges to the right to education in different jurisdictions and introduces the concept of public interest lawyering. Future modules will address: how to prepare for litigation, how to craft remedies and follow-up mechanisms, and what the role of international forums can and should be.

All of Module 1 is available for free to view on YouTube.