OADH 4095 - Contested Natural Resources: Human Rights and International Law

The course will examine the relationship between human rights and natural resources from the perspective of international law. The first part of the course will focus on how international rules allocate natural resources among states, groups, and individuals. Specific attention will be given to conflicts over resources, both at the international level and within states. Economic rights, such as the rights to water and food, will then be analyzed in light of food security, international agricultural investment and humanitarian assistance in conflict zones. Other topics include the rights of indigenous peoples to land and natural resources; the protection of economic and social rights in cases of occupation and unlawful territorial situations; and the exploitation of natural resources during civil wars. The course will also cover the concept of permanent sovereignty over natural resources, the role of historic rights over natural resources in territorial disputes, and the concept of vital human needs in the sharing of international watercourses. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, the course will also examine the relationship between applicable international rules and economic or political doctrines, such as virtual water, hydro-hegemony and the resource curse.

LEARNING OUTCOMES AND SKILLS

• Assessing the relevance of legal arguments in the qualification of the relationship between human activities and the environment, with reference to access to natural resources by individuals and groups
• Understanding the logic and the value added of legal reasoning in the field of human rights protection, conflict management, and natural resources
• Understanding the functioning of the international supervisory system for human rights protection with relation to natural resources
• Understanding the role of human rights protection with respect to access to natural resources by non-state actors, such as insurgents, minorities, indigenous peoples, and transnational corporations
• Assessing the possible linkage between natural resources and armed conflicts
• Exposing both the contradictions and the complementarity of the legal regimes regulating the protection of human rights and access to natural resources

Professional Skills:

On completing the course, students will be able to:

• critically assess the interaction between international norms protecting the environment, norms regulating conflicts, and norms regulating access to natural resources
• take position critically and creatively on specific cases related to human rights, conflict management and the settlement of disputes on natural resources qualifying them in the light of international norms
• read and understand judicial decisions and legal documents dealing with human rights law and the other topics dealt with in class
• communicate effectively using legal language in the field of human rights and natural resources.

There is no formal prerequisite, but students should be aware that the course will be taught from the perspective of international law. Students who do not have previous knowledge of international law are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the foundations of the subject before the beginning of the course.

Readable introductions to the subject are:

• A Orakhelashvili, Akehurst's Modern Introduction to International Law (London and New York: Routledge, 2022);
• S Murphy, Principles of International Law (St. Paul: Thomson Reuters, 2018).

Relevant entry words of the Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law are very helpful.

The course will consist of a combination of lectures, debates and classroom simulations. Students are required to read the assigned materials before class in order to understand and critically discuss them. During classes, students will be expected to adopt a position on relevant topics from the perspective of international law. The main legal texts and judicial decisions will be uploaded to the course website. Students are encouraged to consult these resources.

To validate the course, the student is expected to pass the following assignments:

• A final paper (50 per cent)
• A short oral presentation in a group simulation (20 per cent)
• A one-page written assignment (20 per cent)
• Class participation (10 per cent). <br<

The paper will consist of a research paper on a topic related to resource conflicts and human rights. The word limit is 3000. The deadline to submit the final paper is fifteen days before the deadline for uploading the course grades. The group simulations are based on the adversarial method of legal argumentation, where two legal teams advocate for the positions of the parties involved in a real or hypothetical legal dispute. Class participation will be continuously assessed through debates and classroom simulations.<br<

• Reading and Preparation for Class: 60 hours a semester
• Research and Preparation for Group Work: 20 hours a semester
• Research and Writing for Individual Assessments: 40 hours a semester