Corsi di Studio del Dipartimento di Culture, Politica e Società

FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS IN LATIN AMERICA

FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS IN LATIN AMERICA

Anno accademico 2019/2020

Sommario insegnamento

• Obiettivi formativi
• Risultati dell'apprendimento attesi
• Modalità di insegnamento
• Modalità di verifica dell'apprendimento
• Programma
• Testi consigliati e bibliografia
• Strumenti didattici

Obiettivi formativi

The course aims at providing students with a basic knowledge of the stages and main characteristics of Latin American constitutionalism and of the bills of rights sections of contemporary constitutions. Besides, the course intends to enable them to understand the different judicial and non-judicial mechanisms of human rights protection and the active role played by civil society organisations in the promotion and protection of human rights, in order to offer some useful insights on human rights careers in NGOs. 

Risultati dell'apprendimento attesi

At the end of the course students should be able to read the bills of rights sections of Latin American constitutions from a critical perspective, to understand their substantive content through the lens of supranational and constitutional courts' case-law and be aware of the political and legal actions NGOs engage in for protecting and promoting human rights.

Modalità di insegnamento

The course will consist of traditional frontal lectures. Students' active participation is strongly encouraged since they will have to discuss real and fictional cases selected by the lecturer. 

A part of the course (10 hrs) will be co-taught with prof. Marcilio Toscano Franca Filho (University of Paraiba - Brazil).

Modalità di verifica dell'apprendimento

Grades will be expressed in /30 taking into account the accuracy of knowledge of the subject and the quality of legal reasoning.

Written exam will consist of 15 multiple-choice questions (50% of the final mark) and one open question (50% of the final mark). 

Attending students may choose an alternative assessment method: in addition to the multiple-choice questions exam, a 50% of the final mark may be based on class presentations or other assignments.

Programma

The course will begin with an introduction to the stages of Latin American constitutional history and to the main characteristics of contemporary constitutions.

The first part of the course will focus on the content of the bill of rights sections of some specific constitutions and will be dedicated to the analysis of the different mechanisms of human rights protection. In particular, it will analyse the origins and characteristics of judicial mechanisms such as the writ of amparo and other forms of direct action of unconstitutionality such as actio popularis, but will also include non-jurisdictional mechanisms of human rights protection such as the activity of ombudsman, equality bodies and other human rights institutions. 

The second part of the course will pay particular attention to the interaction between law and gender; the right to equality and non-discrimination with specific attention to indigenous people; the balance between the freedom of expression and the prohibition of ethnic/racist and homophobic hate speech in recent constitutional debates and constitutional case-law.

The final part of the course will touch on the peculiar role played by civil society organisations through their advocacy, lobbying and strategic litigation activities in the protection of indigenous people, ethnic minorities, women and LGBTI people.

1) R. Dixon-T. Ginsburg, Comparative Constitutional Law in Latin America, Edward Elgar Pub., 2017, Chapters 1, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14 (available at the Unito Library).

2) A. Brewer-Carias, Constitutional Protection of Human Rights in Latin America: A Comparative Study Of Amparo Proceedings, Cambridge University Press, 2014, Part II (available online: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/constitutional-protection-of-human-rights-in-latin-america/77E300982A37E0DBAA06DA8D67DF7DC4). 

Attending students will not be required to study some chapters of the textbooks, that will be replaced by specific readings that will be uploaded on the Moodle platform during the course. 

Orario lezioni

• Materiale didattico
• Bacheca appelli
• Vai a Moodle
• Visita i forum