Areas of Work

The Clinic is structured around five thematic programmes, which provide both focus and strategy to its work. The individual projects undertaken within the remit of each programme are assessed on an annual or necessity basis. Projects are identified, developed and implemented in collaboration with external partners. These partners are predominantly non-governmental organizations working in the field of human rights that, having limited resources, view partnership with the Clinic as an invaluable avenue to develop strong proposals and strategies to address prevailing issues that impede efforts to promote and protect human rights. This system of collaborative partnerships and projects facilitates a bottom up approach, whereby organizations and individuals working directly with the victims of human rights violations have a significant influence on the work undertaken within the Clinic, thereby further bridging the divide between human rights scholars and practitioners.

Clinic Programmes

• Minority Rights and Indigenous Peoples

  The threats to the world’s minorities and indigenous peoples are a central focus of the international movement of human rights protection. Not only do minorities and indigenous peoples face multiple forms of discrimination but they also bear the greatest costs of economic breakdown and conflicts. The Human Rights Centre Clinic takes these concerns in highest priority and is committed to unveiling and analysing the distinct challenges faced by these groups.

• Corporate Accountability

  Corporate entities are international actors with growing influence and impact on the world’s human rights records. Nevertheless, the legal nature of private corporations and the normative framework of international human rights law are not always linked by a clear line. The Human Rights Centre Clinic’s Corporate Accountability Programme produces focused research efforts with the aim of advancing and removing obstacles from the definition of tangible accountability standards for corporations that violate human rights.

• Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights

  The counter-terrorism measures adopted worldwide following the attacks of 11 September 2001 raise concerns about the protection of fundamental human rights. The legality of national strategies to prevent and combat terrorism are rarely assessed under a human rights framework and give margin for dubious interpretations that often result in serious human rights violations. The Human Rights Centre Clinic is determined to support research and litigation efforts that address such violations and that advance the mechanisms available to protect their victims.

• Socio-Economic Rights

  The enforcement of Economic, Social and Cultural rights (ESC rights) gives rise to the challenge of identifying the nature of state obligations and the concrete measures required to address and redress the specific situations where ESC rights are violated. The Human Rights Centre Clinic seeks to contribute to the current discussions related to this challenge and relies on the valuable expertise of prominent academic staff members to advance the crafting of mechanisms and tools to implement ESC rights.

• International Justice

  The promotion of international justice through the rule of law requires comprehensive research that can contribute to international adjudication strategies and to initiatives that raise the international community’s public awareness. The focus of this programme is to apply the Human Rights Centre Clinic’s expertise in international human rights and humanitarian law to assist international NGOs in their advocacy and litigation efforts.

The Clinic is constantly seeking to develop its partnerships and areas of work. To find out more about partnership possibilities please seee our project selection criteria.