20 Credit Modules

Module title:	Human Rights Aspects of International Business
SCQF level:	11:
SCQF credit value:	20.00
ECTS credit value:	10
Module code:	LAW11133
Module leader:	DR JILL STAVERT
School	Accounting Financial Services and Law
Subject area group:	Law

Prerequisites

There are no pre-requisites for this module to be added

Timetables

Click here to view the trimester 1 teaching timetable

Click here to view the trimester 3 teaching timetable

2013/4, Trimester 1, Face-to-Face, Napier University

Occurrence:	001
Primary mode of delivery:	Face-to-Face
Location of delivery:	NAPIER
Member of staff responsible for delivering module:	DR JILL STAVERT
Module Organiser:

Learning, Teaching and Assessment (LTA) Approach:

The learning and teaching methods to be employed will be:-
1. Lectures to explain the key concepts relating to legal, ideological (including cultural relativity) and economic issues associated with the development, observation and violation of international human rights in the context of the activities and policies of transnational corporations and other business enterprises;
2. Seminars to support the identification, application and critical evaluation of topics and issues introduced in lectures and from students’ own research; and
3. Designated study times for group work on the compilation and presentation of course notes.

Embedding of employability/ PDP/ scholarship skills

The main employability, PDP and scholarship skills which will be embedded are:-
a) Group work – students will work together on a seminar presentation;
b) Communication – oral and written communication skills are assessed in coursework and seminar presentations and contributions. These enable students to develop legal debating skills and to analyse and defend practical and theoretical concepts orally; and
c) Information retrieval techniques - library and online resources should be used for research, reading for coursework and seminar preparation.

Assessment (formative and summative)

Assessment for this module will comprise two pieces of written coursework of approximately 3000 words (summative assessment) to be submitted in weeks 8 and 15 respectively.

Research/ teaching linkages
This will occur in preparation for coursework, the seminars, and in participation in seminars. Students will be encouraged and required to investigate research and information on international law generally, and on international regional human rights law that is particularly relevant to the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises contained within relevant textbooks, journal articles and online resources.

Supporting equality and diversity

1. The module content includes and examines issues such as socio-economic inequalities and discrimination;
2. Key module materials and information are available on WebCT so as to cater for different learning approaches and circumstances of individual students and to assist flexible learning;
3. The modes of delivery of the module will enable students to study and learn in a manner most appropriate to their individual needs.

Internationalisation
The entire module content focuses international law and related issues.

Student Activity (Notional Equivalent Study Hours (NESH))
Mode of activity	Learning & Teaching Activity	NESH (Study Hours)
FACE TO FACE	Tutorial / Seminar / Class Groupwork	24
Independent Learning	Individual Learning Activities	176
	Total Study Hours	200
	Expected Total Study Hours for Module	200

Assessment
Type of Assessment	Weighting %	LOs covered	Week due	Length in Hours/Words
Essay	50	1-4	8	HOURS= WORDS= 3000
Essay	50	1-4	13	HOURS= WORDS= 3000
Component 1 subtotal:	100
Component 2 subtotal:	0
Module subtotal:	100

What you will learn and what this module is about:

In this module you will be introduced to, or revisit, hard and soft law principles of the international legal system relating to international and regional human rights protection in the context of the activities and policies of transnational corporations and other business enterprises.

Description of module content:

– Contextual study of international human rights law.
– Sources of international human rights law.
– Individuals, groups, transnational corporations and other business enterprises as subjects of international law.
– International, regional and national human rights hard and soft law enforcement and adherence mechanisms and their development and effectiveness.

Learning Outcomes for module:

LO1: Critically analyse the sources of international human rights law;
LO2: Critically evaluate legal, ideological (including cultural relativity) and economic issues associated with the development, observation and violation of human rights in the context of the activities and policies of transnational corporations and other business enterprises;
LO3: Identify and apply arguments concerning the interpretation and observance of all categories of human rights to situations involving the activities and policies of transnational corporations and other business enterprises;
LO4: Evaluate the effectiveness, in the context of business activities and policies, of the various hard and soft law mechanisms for human rights protection.

Indicative References and Reading List - URL:

T1: R. Wallace and O Martin-Ortega (2009), International law, Sweet and Maxwell.
T2: D Harris (2010), Cases and Materials on International Law, Sweet and Maxwell
T3: I Brownlie and G Goodwin-Gill (eds) (2010), Basic documents in international law, Oxford University Press.
T4: M. Evans (2010), International law, Oxford University Press.
T5. H. Steiner and P. Alston (2008), International human rights in context, 3rd edition, Oxford University Press.
T6: O de Schutter (2010), International Human Rights Law, Cambridge University Press.

Click here to view this module's reading list.

Related information

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