Deciphering Human Rights Trends
School of Law (SOL), in partnership with the William S. Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, United States, organised an International & Comparative Human Rights Law Practicum at IGNOU from December 20, 2010 to January 06, 2011.
An American Bar Association approved programme, the two-week event aimed at exposing law students to comparative and international human rights law themes through enriched classroom and field experiences. A close interaction on these issues took place between a diverse group of 15 and 14 students from the U.S. and India, respectively.
The participants were addressed by luminaries like Prof N.R. Madhava Menon, a legal educationist, Dr P.M. Nair (IPS), Additional Director General of Police (CRPF), Dr M. Gandhi, Director, Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India, and Ravi Nair, Director, South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre.
The programme was organised under the overall supervision of Prof K. Elumalai, Director, School of Law, and Prof Martin Geer, William S. Boyd School of Law.
During the course of the programme, participants visited 13 institutions to get a feel of the functioning of these institutions by interacting with the officials concerned. They also visited nine institutions in small groups for intense field study for two-three days. Based on these visits, they prepared a research paper for presentation.
“This unique Human Rights Practicum Programme had initially thrown several challenges. As the days progressed, the participants were able to learn the legal status of various human rights issues, prevalent in respective countries, by mutual exchange moderated by experts.
“They not only interacted with renowned experts on critical dimensions of human rights issues but also visited selected national-level institutions engaged in tackling human rights issues,” informed Prof Elumalai.
Some of the institutions visited include the Institute of Social Sciences, International Committee of Red Cross, Delhi Legal Services Authority, National Human Rights Commission, Tihar Prison, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, National Law University, among others.
“At the end, the participants, particularly from the U.S., said that this programme was a life-time experience,” added Prof Elumalai.
The participants were presented with a Certificate of Participation at a special valedictory function on January 5, 2011.
