约克大学

Human rights abuses still occur, despite growing numbers of international treaties and organisations dedicated to their eradication. The LLM in International Human Rights Law and Practice engages you in a critical, nuanced and interdisciplinary examination of this paradox.

You'll learn about issues central to the work of human rights scholars and practitioners including states and non-state actors as perpetrators and duty-bearers; standard-setting versus implementation; and the interaction between law, policy and advocacy at local, regional and global levels. Whether you are a mid-career professional or recent graduate, our LLM enables you to acquire the substantive knowledge, versatile skills and valuable networks necessary to work in the human rights field.

The LLM International Human Rights Law and Practice is distinctive because you will:

• work on real human rights issues in partnership with international and local NGOs, UN mechanisms or governmental bodies;
• undertake fieldwork in Kuala Lumpur or York and acquire valuable socio-legal skills;
• learn from the experiences of human rights defenders based at the Centre for Applied Human Rights and from the interactions with an international student body;
• benefit from the interdisciplinary expertise of staff at the Centre for Applied Human Rights and York Law School whose research informs teaching and shapes international policy.

Course content

The LLM aims to familiarise you with three key aspects of human rights activism; law, policy and advocacy. You'll learn to:

• critically examine international and regional human rights treaties
• assess the work of monitoring and adjudication bodies
• analyse how political and social context shape international instruments, domestic legislation and policy
• develop advocacy strategies to address these issues

You'll have the opportunity to work on a human rights project in partnership with local and international non-governmental organisations, United Nations mechanisms or governmental bodies.

Careers and skills

We provide career advice, networking opportunities, hands-on experience and personalised reference letters to help you find good jobs with human rights NGOs, humanitarian and development organisations, policy think-tanks, national governments, and UN agencies.