Criminal Justice and Human Rights (HS25)

This course examines the intersection between criminal law, criminal process, and human rights. The criminal law is the most severe measure at the state's disposal. The criminal law is a tool of coercion, which allows the state to punish its own citizens. Human rights are commonly viewed as exerting limits on the coercive reach of the criminal law and criminal justice authorities. At the same time, the criminal law has increasingly been seen as a means for protecting and enforcing human rights claims, particularly in the context of policing and prosecution and punishment of violent and sexual crimes. This course will allow for consideration both of rights as limits on the state' powers in the criminal justice context and of rights as grounding demands that the authorities act to investigate, prosecute, and punish crime.

Course Information

The lecture on Monday 15 September will be cancelled due to Knabenschiessen. Therefore, the first week will be a reading week: Please engage with the reader.

Learning Outcome

Target Groups

Course Materials