Teaching & training
Seminar on International Organizations
University of Michigan Law School Geneva Program
In 2009 I will teach a Seminar on International Organizations for students participating in the UM Geneva Program. The seminar will begin with three compulsory sessions in Ann Arbor on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, November 17-19, from 7:15-9:15 pm in 951 Legal Research. The first session, on Monday November 17, will be an introductory session about the program and a chance to discuss how to prepare for arrival in Geneva. The second two sessions will begin the academic content of the program. Starting in January 2009 in Geneva, weekly seminar sessions will be held, and in addition a series of visits to international organizations and talks with senior legal and policy advisors will be organized. Attendance will be compulsory. The course syllabus, readings, timetable, and calendar of events are available to externs participating in the program. An orientation session for all Geneva program participants is scheduled for the afternoon of Sunday, January 11, 2009, in Geenva.
The theory and practice of defending economic, social and cultural rights
Graduate Institute IMAS workshop
In 2009 my colleague, Christophe Golay, and I will again teach a workshop as part of the International Master of Advanced Studies in Development Studies (IMAS) at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. The workshop will take place in Geneva in March 2009.
This workshop is intended as an introduction to economic, social and cultural rights; it aims to discuss if, and how, human rights, and more specifically economic social and cultural rights, can be an effective means to ensure greater social justice and more equitable distribution of wealth. Although relegated for many years to second place behind civil and political rights, today, economic, social and cultural rights occupy an important place in the theory and practice of development. They are proclaimed, demanded and defended by an emerging civil society in the South and in the North, and occupy an ever more important place within the United Nations. This workshop, which is taught with the participation of other invited human rights experts, will enable students to go beyond the realm of the purely theoretical, and to meet many individuals who have worked or are actively working for the defence of economic, social and cultural rights.
The course syllabus, reading list and bibliography will be available to students on the IMAS intranet. Students of the 2007 IMAS workshop on ESC rights can also find the course syllabus on the IMAS intranet.
Monitoring Economic, Social & Cultural Rights
The Graduate Institute's Executive Education Courses
This annual five-day training course (held in May) helps organizations to acquire and enhance their capacity and knowledge in order to effectively monitor economic, social and cultural rights. The training course is targeted towards staff from small and medium sized organisations – in particular NGOs. The course is a dynamic combination of lectures and practical case studies using real country situations. It is facilitated by specialists experienced in economic, social and cultural rights working at both UN and grassroots level. This course is a joint initiative of both the Research Unit on the Right to Food at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) and Human Rights Information and Documentation Systems, International (HURIDOCS).
More information about the course can be found through the Graduate Institute's Executive Education program, or through HURIDOCS. Applications for the 2009 course will open in October 2008. The training course will be held in Geneva in May 2009.
Summer/Winter in Geneva course on International Organisations
Australian National College of Law
As an ANU alumni, and an alumni of the first ever Summer/Winter in Geneva course on International Organisations, I am delighted to have been invited to teach in this course annually since 2004. Students travel from Australia to spend 3 weeks in Geneva in January-February, learning through classroom lectures and visits to international organisations.
Geneva Training Courses
International Service for Human Rights
I am honoured to be invited to train sessions in the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) Geneva Training Courses.
ISHR organises three annual training courses in Geneva to provide human rights defenders with both practical and theoretical knowledge of the United Nations human rights machinery. These courses are designed for experienced human rights defenders working for NGOs and NHRIs from around the world that are using or wanting to use the international human rights system.
There is the Advanced Geneva Training Courses in English and in French, which particularly focus on the Human Rights Council, its procedures and mechanisms. There is also the Geneva Training Course on Treaty Monitoring Bodies, conducted in English, which provides participants with knowledge about treaty bodies and the role of civil society within the system. Running parallel to the Committee against Torture (CAT) and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), it is designed for human rights defenders, national human rights institutions and public officials from around the world.
Previously taught courses and seminars
Economic and Social Rights as Universal Human Rights
The University of Tulsa College of Law Geneva Institute
I was invited to teach an intensive course on socio-economic rights to US law school students as part of the University of Tulsa College of Law Geneva Institute on Indigenous Law during June-August 2006. This intensive course for 2L and 3L (graduate law) students explored the theory and practice of economic and social rights: what they are, how they are protected at law, and what fora exist for victims of economic and social rights violations to access justice. International human rights are recognized as expanding beyond traditional, US Bill of Rights style guarantees of free speech and freedom of assembly. An increasing number of national, universal and regional human rights instruments encompass such things as a right to education, to health care, housing, food, work, and others. This course surveys the current status of these economic and social rights throughout the world, and examines the theoretical underpinnings for regarding such rights as universal human rights.
International Law Section courses at the former HEI
During 2005-2007 I worked as a Teaching Assistant in the International Law Section at HEI. The resources for the classes I assisted with can be found on the following links:
For 2007-2008 classes please follow the links to the relevant courses on the old HEI Law Section website.
2006-2007 classes:
International Legal Framework for the Protection of Human Rights
International Law and Terrorism
International Law of Jurisdiction and Jurisdictional Immunities
International Human Rights Through the Concepts
Norms in International Relations: Habits, Laws and Campaigns
2005-2006 classes:
International Human Rights Through the Concepts
International Law & Terrorism
State Responsibility
The International Protection of Refugees
War on Terror
Building an Asian community of practice on monitoring and budget analysis
Social Watch workshop, Cambodia, July 2007
In July 2007 I was invited to act as a facilitator at the workshop "Building an Asian community of practice on monitoring and budget analysis". The workshop, held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, was organized by SILAKA and Social Watch in collaboration with OXFAM- Novib/KIC, and brought together 23 participants from several countries in the region (Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam). The workshop objectives were: To build capacities on budget monitoring, social indicators, rights-based approach, advocacy and networking. To strengthen participants’ skills to better understand and make use of monitoring and evaluation instruments. To create a space for the exchange of experiences and ideas on the topics of the workshop. And to promote joint work between the organizations and consolidate a sustainable network between Watchers and other CSOs or networks.
Information about the workshop, including documents and powerpoint presentations from the workshop, can be found on the Social Watch website.
