Rights

Legal Protection of Human Rights in the UK

In this course, Professor Steven Greer (University of Bristol) discusses the legal protection of human rights in the UK. In the first module, we ask: what are rights?, and look at some of the key theories underpinning our idea of rights and their importance. In the second module, we look at the historical origins of rights, and how they have evolved. In the third module, we discuss several different stances on the possibility and/or desirability of human rights: indifference, hostility, scepticism and perfectionism. In the fourth module, we take a more in depth look at the stance of human rights realism. In the fifth module, we explore the implementation and impact of the Human Rights Act 1998. In the sixth module, we look at how the HRA 1998 works, before turning to achievements of the HRA 1998 in the seventh module. In the eighth and final module, we conclude with some responses to four frequently asked questions about the legal protection of human rights.

Rights

In this module, we examine the concept of rights, focusing in particular on (i) will theory and interest theory of rights (ii) legitimate entitlement (iii) value systems and ideologies underpinning rights.