LLM International Human Rights Law and Practice Programme Specification 2024-25

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1	ACADEMIC QUALITY TEAM
2	Programme Specifications 2024-25
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5	Programme Title			LLM International Human Rights Law and Practice
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7	This document applies to students who commenced the programme(s) in:			September 2024		Award type			LLM
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9	What level is this qualification?			7		Length of programme			1 Year Full Time 2 Years Part Time
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11	Mode of study (Full / Part Time)			Full and Part Time
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13	Will the programme use standard University semester dates?			Yes		For York Online programmes, will standard dates for such programmes be used?			Yes.
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15	Awarding institution			University of York		Board of Studies for the programme			Law Graduate School Board
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17	Lead department			Law		Other contributing departments			CAHR, Politics, CWS, Social Policy and Social Work, Sociology
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19	Language of study and assessment			English		Language(s) of assessment			English
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21	Is this a campus-based or online programme?			Campus-based
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23	Partner organisations
24	If there are any partner organisations involved in the delivery of the programme, please outline the nature of their involvement. You may wish to refer to the Policy on Collaborative Provision
25	On the Human Rights Placement module (LAW00066M), students work in groups, supervised by an academic, and in partnership with various organisations on developing and implementing a human rights project. All partnerships developed follow the University of York Policy on Collaborative Provision and are based on agreed Terms of Reference (ToR).
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28	Reference points
29	Please state relevant reference points consulted in the design of this programme (for example, relevant documentation setting out PSRB requirements; the University's Frameworks for Programme Design (UG or PGT); QAA Subject Benchmark Statements; QAA Qualifications and Credit Frameworks).
30	The modular design of this programme meets the Framework for PGT programmes as set out in the University’s Frameworks for Programme Design.
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33	Credit Transfer and Recognition of Prior Learning
34	Will this programme involve any exemptions from the University Policy and Procedures on Credit Transfer and the Recognition of Prior Learning? If so, please specify and give a rationale
35	No
36	No
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38	Exceptions to Regulations
39	Please detail any exceptions to University Award Regulations and Frameworks that need to be approved (or are already approved) for this programme. This should include any that have been approved for related programmes and should be extended to this programme.
40	None
41	None
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43	Internal Transfers
44	Please use the boxes below to specify if transfers into / out of the programme from / to other programmes within the University are possible by indicating yes or no and listing any restrictions. These boxes can also be used to highlight any common transfer routes which it would be useful for students to know.
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46		Transfers in:	Yes			Transfers out:	Yes
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49	Statement of Purpose
50	Please briefly outline the overall aims of the programme. This should clarify to a prospective student why they should choose this programme, what it will provide to them and what benefits they will gain from completing it.
51	Human rights practice has changed in recent years. Activists and scholars are focusing today on human rights standard setting and implementation, international treaties and domestic law, states and non-state actors. Human rights defenders – those who promote and protect civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights – are central to this shift in practice. At the same time, human rights defenders themselves face many challenges and are in need of protection in today’s shrinking civil and political space and in the context of growing global struggle between oppression and self-determination. The LLM in International Human Rights Law and Practice trains you to use the law more effectively to promote human rights and to protect human rights defenders. It engages you in a critical and nuanced examination of the various human rights legal frameworks, while providing you with the socio-legal skills necessary to apply norms at local, national, regional and global levels. You will learn to analyse the socio-political and legal context in which human rights issues exist, examine the complexity of policy making processes, and apply the gained knowledge to a variety of real life situations inside and outside the classroom. Our LLM programme provides a holistic approach to human rights law by integrating insights from development, conflict, and gender studies, as well as humanitarianism and activism. It is outward-looking and practice-oriented. It maintains strong links with human rights defenders based at the Centre for Applied Human Rights, UN mechanisms, and non-governmental both locally and overseas, as well as the York Human Rights City Network. The human rights placement with a partner organisation in York (UK), Cape Town (South Africa) or elsewhere in the world is a key component of the LLM that will give you direct experience of fieldwork.
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62	If there are additional awards associated with the programme upon which students can register, please specify the Statement of Purpose for that programme. This will be most relevant for PGT programmes with exit awards that are also available as entry points. Use additional rows to include more than one additional award. Do not include years in industry / abroad (for which there are separate boxes).
63	Exit Award Title			Is the exit award also available as an entry point?	Outcomes: what will the student be able to do on exit with this award?			Specify the module diet that the student will need to complete to obtain this exit award
64	PG Diploma in International Human Rights Law and Practice			Exit Award only	Students exiting with a PGDip will have completed all modules on the programme except the dissertation. As a result of completing the taught module portion of the programme, they will have some understanding of all PLOs. However, they will not have the deeper achievement of the PLOs of a degree student. Please see also row 73.			120 credits of non-dissertation modules offered on the LLM International Human Rights Law and Practice.
65	PG Certificate in International Human Rights Law & Practice			Exit Award only	Students who exit with a PGCert will have taken and passed some of the taught module components of the programme. Students will have completed at least three of the following: (i) Applying International Human Rights Law, (ii) The Practice of Fieldwork, (iii) Human Rights Placement, (iv) International Human Rights Laboratory, (v) an optional module. The programme and its PLOs are not structured so that PGCert (or PGDip) students have not achieved certain PLOs (eg. there is no PLO mapped exclusively to a dissertation / ISM module). However, it is expected that the depth of learning in relation to each PLO will increase as a student progresses past the waypoints for PGCert, PGDip and degree. In successfully completing three of the foregoing modules students will have demonstrated some achievements in relation to the relevant PLOs (which vary, depending on the completed modules). However, they will not have the deeper achievement of the PLOs of a PGDip or degree student.			60 credits of non-dissertation modules offered on the LLM International Human Rights Law and Practice.
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67	Programme Learning Outcomes
68	What are the programme learning outcomes (PLOs) for the programme? (Normally a minimum of 6, maximum of 8). Taken together, these outcomes should capture the distinctive features of the programme and represent the outcomes that students progressively develop in the programme and achieve at graduation. PLOs should be worded to follow the stem 'Graduates will be able to...'
69	1	Apply a comprehensive understanding of the diverse ways in which social, political, economic and institutional interests shape human rights problems and responses, through the critical evaluation of human rights law;
70	2	Retrieve and critically assess legal instruments, texts and socio-legal data using appropriate research methods and analytical techniques to investigate complex contemporary human rights issues;
71	3	Design specialised legal advocacy to enhance the implementation of human rights by applying an advanced knowledge of UN, regional and domestic law and policy-making processes;
72	4	Engage with debates at global, regional, national, and local levels, communicating ideas effectively and in different formats to peers, policy actors, scholars, lawyers and human rights defenders across a range of professional settings;
73	5	Apply collaborative, participatory and culturally sensitive approaches to problem-solving in complex and unpredictable circumstances and to the shaping of human rights interventions;
74	6	Critically reflect on theoretical approaches to complex challenges in diverse contexts, evaluating their value and effectiveness for human rights promotion and protection.
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76	Diverse entry routes
77	Detail how you would support students from diverse entry routes to transition into the programme. For example, disciplinary knowledge and conventions of the discipline, language skills, academic and writing skills, lab skills, academic integrity.
78	Throughout semester 1, the University runs regular Study Skills sessions for PGT students. Sessions offered are on: Academic research skills, VLE training, Referencing and Developing Academic Writing Skills. For non-native English speakers these study skills sessions are supplemented by English language classes run by the International Pathway College (IPC) and Writing Skills Centre. All students participate in department-run Turnitin workshops and complete the University's Academic Integrity tutorial. Disciplinary knowledge and the legal research skills necessary for the successful completion of the programme are taught during semester 1 in Applying International Human Rights Law and in a 2 half-day intensive Workshops on Research Skills for Dissertation Writing in February and June (run together by CAHR/Law/Politics staff and designed specifically for LLM IHRLP and MA in Applied Human Rights students). Support for the placement with human rights organisation is provided on the the Practice of Fieldwork module and through workshops and group supervision meetings with academic supervisors on LAW00007M.
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85	Inclusion
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87	Please confirm by ticking the box on the right that the design, content and delivery of the programme will support students from all backgrounds to succeed. This refers to the University's duties under the Equality Act 2010. You may wish to refer to the optional Inclusive Learning self-assessment tools to support reflection on this issue.									TRUE
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89	Employability
90	Please give a brief overview - no more than 5 sentences - of how the programmes helps develop students' employability. Your Faculty Employability Manager can help reflection on this issue. This statement will be used by Marketing as the basis for external content with respect to employability.
91	As evidenced by PLO1 and 2, the LLM has a strong focus on the development of employability skills of both recent graduates wishing to enter the field of human rights and mid-career professionals wanting to improve their careers. Graduates of the LLM will have developed substantive knowledge of human rights law and related areas, sector-related skills (critical legal analysis, advocacy, and litigation skills) through hands-on problem-based workshops and assessments and a mooting exercise, and transferable employability skills (collaboration, communication, reflection). On the Practice of Fieldwork module, students will gain comprehensive understanding about how to undertake fieldwork in complex human rights contexts. They apply this knowledge in the Human Rights Placement module. An employability feature which distinguishes the York LLM is the direct workplace engagement which our students have whilst working on concrete human rights projects in partnership with local non-governmental organisation, UN mechanisms or governmental bodies in York, Cape Town and elsewhere. Our graduates will have learnt how to think, act, engage, reflect and communicate as researchers and practitioners in a variety of human rights contexts. They will have gained the knowledge and skills to play their part in the protection of civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights in a shrinking civil space, and be prepared for a variety of different careers in the public, private and voluntary sectors.
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