Citizenship and the Rule of Law

Welcome to the first week of the course. Week 1 is an overview of the headline debates concerning the Rule of Law and a discussion of how it applies in practice today. You will be taken through a historical account of the development of the principle over time from Aristotle's first statement of the Rule of Law to the modern work of the Bingham Centre. This teaching session will also serve as an introduction to debates about the requirements of the Rule of Law, i.e. whether it passes judgment on if particular decisions are "good" or "bad" and whether human rights are part of the Rule of Law.

Welcome to the second week of the course. Week 2 will focus on processes for the selection and appointment of judges, the importance of public confidence in the judiciary and the role that judges play in securing the Rule of Law.

Welcome to the third week of the course. Week 3 will establish that all must be treated equally before the law. The session will discuss contentious situations in which treating people equally requires that they be treated differently in order to give effect to justice, such as the limited range of sanctions available to criminals convicted as children.

Welcome to the fourth week of the course. Week 4 looks at a number of other barriers that individuals face in enforcing their legal rights. One of the concepts explored will be 'legal capability'. This is defined as the knowledge, skills and confidence required to resolve legal problems in life. Students will be presented with a range of initiatives undertaken by civil society to improve legal capability and will produce their own ideas about improving access to justice across the world.

Welcome to the fifth week of the course. Week 5 will introduce students to the international legal order and regional human rights conventions. The week will start with a potted summary of the development of the United Nations. The second portion of session will focus on human rights law. Course leads will discuss universal and regional human rights frameworks including the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, the American Convention on Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights and speak to examples of non-compliance in respect of each of these and how they are enforced.

Welcome to Week Six of the course. Week 6 delves into the Rule of Law questions raised by the potential impacts of business operations on the human rights of their employees, populations of countries they are based in and other community stakeholders. This week will provide a background and history of this new and dynamic area, and describe how all eight of Bingham's Rule of Law Principles are engaged in this discussion.