Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, American University: opportunities for students

The Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law of the American University, Washington College of Law aims to promote the values of human dignity through legal education in Washington DC, through its partnership programs and projects that uniquely position it to address the need for a specialized, scholarly legal approach to human rights law. In the face of new challenges and issues that arise in our ever-changing world, the Academy is finding innovative ways to create and strengthen partnerships between human rights organizations, practitioners and educators worldwide, thereby expanding its outreach. It offers the following opportunities:

Program of Advanced Studies on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law: This annual Program offers 20 courses in English and Spanish lectured by over 40 scholars of relevance in the field of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law and gathers more than 150 participants from more than 25 different countries and with different levels of professional experience. The Academy provides through this Program the unique opportunity to learn and interact with judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Special Rapporteurs and Committee Members of the United Nations, Judges, Commissioners and members of the Inter-American Commission and Court on Human Rights and professors from all over the world. The Program is offered in three categories: Certificate of Attendance for lawyers, law students and HR professionals of any country, ABA Credits for U.S. students and finally, the Diploma Course that is offered to a select group of 35 law professionals who fulfill the admission requirements. The deadline to apply is May 1. More information can be found here on the website: www.wcl.american.edu/hracademy/summer.cfm. Interested persons can also contact the Academy at hracademy@wcl.american.edu for more information.

Inter-American Human Rights Moot Court Competition: The Inter-American Human Rights Moot Court Competition is a unique trilingual (English, Portuguese, and Spanish) competition established to train law students how to use the Inter-American human rights legal system as a legitimate forum for redressing human rights violations. Since its inception in 1995, the yearly Competition has trained over 2500 students and faculty participants from over 294 universities throughout the Americas and beyond. Written on a cutting-edge topic currently debated within the Inter-American system, the hypothetical case operates as the basis of the competition, and students argue the merits of this case by writing legal memoranda and preparing oral arguments for presentation in front of human rights experts acting as the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Lawyers from various countries who have ample experience in international law and/or human rights contribute to the competition as volunteer judges. They participate by grading written memorials from their home city, or by traveling to Washington, D.C. to evaluate the Competition’s oral rounds. Participants need not be bilingual. Simultaneous interpretation is available during the oral rounds. The deadline to apply to be a judge is May 1. More information can be found here on the website: www.wcl.american.edu/hracademy/mcourt/. Interested persons can also contact the Academy at iamoot@wcl.american.edu for more information.

LL.M. in International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law/LL.M. en Derechos Humanos y Derecho Humanitario: The LL.M., offered in both Spanish and English, is a semi-residential program featuring online and onsite components. The Master’s Program is specifically designed for professionals and human rights defenders who wish to carry out advanced studies in human rights and humanitarian law without leaving their work obligations in their country of origin. Currently, this program is the only one in the United States to offer a hybrid curriculum of its kind in a US law school in both Spanish and English. The program consists of online courses offered during the spring and fall semesters, and on-site courses taught during the three-week Program of Advanced Studies on Human Rights, also offered by the Academy. More information can be found here on the website: www.wcl.american.edu/humright/llm/llm.cfm. Interested persons can also contact the Academy at humanrights@wcl.american.edu for more information about fully residential options.

Last update

18/4/2016