Courses

Note: This course and Law 270 are often listed as prerequisites for other courses.

Instructor: Anna Spain Bradley (External)

Semester: FALL ’26

This course serves as an introduction to the law, theory, and practice of international human rights, together with the instruments, organizations, and arrangements that affect their implementation and enforcement. Beginning with a consideration of the philosophical origins of the concept of human rights, the course will examine the process by which sovereign nation-states have come to recognize an increasing number of human rights instruments and doctrine as part of positive international law, sometimes with binding effect on their domestic legal systems. The course will cover the development and implementation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the two International Covenants on Human Rights, and the various regional or subject-specific human rights instruments in the contemporary international system.

Note: This course and Law 273 are often listed as prerequisites for other courses.

Semester: SPRING ’27

Instructor: Kal Raustiala (External)

This course will introduce students to the basic concepts and problems of public international law and the international legal system. The course will deal with a broad range of topics including the origins and sources of international law; U.S. foreign relations law; statehood and recognition in international law; principles of State sovereignty, territory, and jurisdiction; the law of treaties; State responsibility; State immunity and immunity of diplomats; and consular responsibility for injury to aliens; international criminal and humanitarian law; the United Nations and collective enforcement; the use of force and self-defense; terrorism; international human rights; international trade; and the law of the sea, air, and space.

Note: This 4-credit course is not offered in the 2026-2027 academic year, but we wanted to be sure to flag this as you build your human rights pathway and course plans. 

This course studies topics such as international and transnational crimes (such as crimes against humanity, genocide, war crimes, crime of aggression, torture, and corruption); the principles of jurisdiction that may be used to prescribe, adjudicate, and enforce these crimes; enforcement mechanisms of these crimes (including the International Criminal Court and transnational prosecutions); principles of international criminal responsibility regarding international crimes; and the logistical and procedural challenges involved in the prosecution of these crimes (such as extradition and abduction).

Semester: SPRING ’27

Instructor: Lauren van Schilfgaarde (External)

Indigenous Peoples around the world increasingly look to international law, and especially human rights instruments and institutions, in their efforts to survive as communities with distinct cultures, political structures, and relationships to traditional lands. Conversely, a focus on Indigenous Peoples provides a context for reflection on the extent to which international human rights law, with its classic focus on individual rights against the state, successfully addresses minority, group, and intercultural sovereignty claims. This course will examine aspects of the substance and procedure of international human rights law as it pertains to Indigenous Peoples. The course will examine the relationship of human rights to Indigenous Peoples’ own laws and traditions, the self-determination of states and peoples, and the political traditions of nation states. 

Semester: SPRING ’27

Instructor: Rachela Er’el, PhD (External)

Note: This is a 2-unit course which does not require any pre- or co-requisites.

Students will engage with key legal instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and relevant soft-law frameworks, such as the Mandela Rules. The course also examines the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the role of preventive monitoring mechanisms, including the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT), the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT), and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT).

Through comparative analysis of the United States, European jurisdictions, and additional case studies, students will analyze how legal norms are interpreted and implemented in practice and assess the gap between formal legal protections and lived conditions in contexts of incarceration.

Semester: FALL ’26

Instructor: Anna Spain Bradley (External)

This course introduces peace as foundational to the study and practice of law. What is peace? Is there a right to peace? What are the roots of positive peace and how do wars end? What lessons should we learn from successful peace movements? Drawing from history, law, and peace studies, this course examines the concept of peace through law. Part I considers the historical and theoretical origins of the concept of peace in law in the ancient world, drawing from Egyptian, Greek, Persian and Roman law and philosophy. Part II examines peace and law in the world today, studying the relevant sources of law and institutions tasked with its promotion. Students will learn about the United Nations’s role in advancing peace and the relevant treaties and sources of international law, international humanitarian law, and human rights law that guide this work. Part III looks to the future and the creation of a globally inclusive agenda for peace, engaging with relevant scholarly discourses from TWAIL, feminist, decolonial and other perspectives. 

This course is designed to develop students’ expertise as a scholars and writers. Students will develop a historically informed and conceptually rich research paper on the role and relationship between peace and law that satisfies the UCLA Law School SAW Requirement. Students will have opportunities to workshop drafts and engage in peer-feedback. 

Semester: SPRING ’27

Instructor: Joseph Berra

This course provides an in-depth introduction and overview of the doctrine and practice of the Inter-American Human Rights System (IAHRS). We will examine the instruments that protect human rights in the IAHRS, the jurisprudence of the system, and the practice of the Inter-American Commission and Court of Human Rights. The course will also examine the engagement, challenges, and opportunities the system creates for civil society groups, victims, and advocates. It will also encourage critical thinking on the human rights frame itself.

Class sessions will consider not only the norms of the system, but also its internal dynamics. In addition, we will assess the impact of the system, evaluating implementation of decisions, as well as the general relevance of the IAHRS to human rights debates, legislation, and practice at the local and national level in countries throughout the hemisphere.

In this regard, we will consider the differing impact of the system across Latin America, and in the primarily Anglophone countries of the Caribbean and North America, including the United States. We will also evaluate the Inter-American system in comparative perspective, occasionally comparing rulings, implementation, and impact to those of regional and universal counterparts.

Semester: SPRING ‘27

Instructor: Kate Mackintosh (External)

Note: This is a 1-credit course that is three weeks long.

Curious about how the international human rights system is dealing with climate change and environmental destruction? This class will examine the potential and limitations of international human rights law and international criminal law to protect the environment, with attention to the interrelationship between human health and well-being, and that of the wider ecosystem. 

Semester: SPRING ’27

Instructor: Catherine Sweetser (External)

The course will cover transnational litigation with a focus on United States courts, with the first half of this course focused on the jurisdictional basics for asserting a violation of international law in U.S. courts, and the second half focusing on particular issues that arise when suing a corporation or government official and affirmative defenses raised in such cases. The first part of the course will focus on enforcing or implementing international law in federal courts generally and the main jurisdictional features of the key statutes for bringing such claims: the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA) and the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA). The second part of the course will focus on particular issues arising in cases against corporations, and place U.S. litigation against corporations in a larger global context of corporate accountability and corporate social responsibility. The final section of the course will examine issues of defenses raised, and other types of actions such as state court and trade actions.

Students will be encouraged to do their own research which will look holistically at case studies applying the various tests and defenses to concrete cases, and explore how strategic human rights litigation fits into, or can be complemented by, larger advocacy strategies or movement goals. By the end of the course, students should have a thorough sense of what avenues in the United States are open to survivors of human rights violations and how to assess whether a case is viable. 

Semester: SPRING ’27

Instructor: Jess Peake (External)

International humanitarian law (IHL) is the body of rules that governs how wars are fought. IHL sits at the center of many of today’s most global crises, shaping how we understand and judge violence in conflicts from Ukraine and Palestine to Iran and Sudan. IHL determines who is protected, what is permitted, and how power is justified-or condemned-on the world stage. It also frames the legal and moral arguments used by states and armed groups to justify their actions during armed conflict.

This seminar is designed to both ground and challenge you. First, it offers a clear and accessible introduction to the history, rules and corse principles of IHL. Second, it pushes into the field’s most challenging questions, where the law meets ambiguity, politics and technological change. We will examine how IHL regulates the conduct of hostilities, protects civilians and prisoners of war, and defines participation in conflict. We will also grapple with contested issues such as the impact of emerging technologies, the gendered dimensions of conflict, the relationship between IHL and human rights law, and what avenues for accountability exist when IHL is violated.

Semester: FALL ’26

Instructor: Jess Peake (External)

This seminar introduces the concepts and practice underlying human rights and war crimes digital open-source investigations (OSINT), including the use of social media and other publicly accessible, internet-based sources to gather and verify evidence for advocacy and legal accountability. The course will examine the purpose, history and use of OSINT by human rights organizations, international courts and investigative mechanisms and will briefly introduce students to the relevant international criminal law and human rights frameworks. Students will learn practical skills and cutting-edge methodologies for planning a successful investigation and collecting and authenticating digital information, including geolocation and chronolocation. We will discuss some of the challenges to this work, including deep fakes, access to online spaces, and what evidence is not available online. Students will learn how to preserve and present digital evidence and some of the admissibility challenges that may arise. The course will also cover some of the ethical considerations that come from using digital evidence and provide strategies to increase resilience and identify trauma responses when working with digital evidence of atrocity crimes.

Semester: FALL ’26

Instructor: Shiran Reichenberg (External)

The course adopts a child-centered perspective on law, asking how legal frameworks, institutional design, and professional practices shape children’s ability to be heard, protected, and supported in matters that directly affect them. Drawing on international human rights law, U.S. legal frameworks, and comparative perspectives from other jurisdictions, the course examines key areas of state intervention in children’s lives, including child welfare and care proceedings, juvenile justice, and out-of-home residential care. 

Note: This course is 4 credits. The J-Term Field Experience is required and represents the equivalent of 2 credits of work, while the semester component represents an additional 2 credits of work. Students must have Spanish-language competency. Max four students.

If you are interested in our clinics, please note that the experiential enrollment process begins before other semester course enrollment. Consult the Registrar’s office for more dates and details.

Semester: SPRING ‘27

Instructor: Joseph Berra

The Human Rights in Action Clinic (HRAC) with International Human Rights Field Experience will be offered in Spring 2026 for 4 credits. A required component of the course is the J-Term trip to Honduras, which will take place January 2027.

The HRAC-International Field Experience offers students a unique opportunity to engage in human rights work in an international context and learn from leading human rights lawyers and activists on the ground. Building on the clinical work of Human Rights in the Americas Director, Joseph Berra, with clients and partners in Honduras, the course will give students an intensive immersion experience in the human rights struggle in Honduras.

Students will participate in various learning modules and workshops in dialog with our partners, clients, and activists, as well as conduct fieldwork in a collaborative model of human rights advocacy on behalf of our clients and in support of the litigation efforts of our partners. The students will then continue the Clinic work on projects arising out of the fieldwork during the Spring semester, meeting once a week for Clinic seminars, workshops and project rounds. Past projects have focused on work with Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities, defense of territory, and resistance to extractivist industries, as well as litigation in the Inter-American System for Human Rights.

An experiential application process is required.

Citizens of the United States, Canada, Mexico, and much of Latin America do not need a visa to travel to Honduras. International students seeking to participate should check with the Dashew Center for International Students and Scholars regarding travel abroad and return on their student visa.

Note: Pre- or Co-Req: Public International law, International Human Rights, or International Criminal Law.

When taken in the Spring, this is a 4-credit class. See course description, right, for Advanced Clinic details. 

Semester: FALL ’26

Instructor: Cathy Sweetser (External)

The Human Rights Litigation Clinic will focus on mechanisms for human rights accountability in domestic courts, including local civil rights litigation of §1983 claims for unhoused people and rights of immigrant detainees, trafficking lawsuits under the Trafficking Victim Protection Act (TVPRA), consumer fraud cases based on false claims of “sustainability” that target corporations selling goods produced with slave labor, and other transnational litigation cases. Students will be given the opportunity to engage in actual litigation together with law firm partners and nonprofit organizations. We will also discuss professional ethics, empowering clients, working with clients with past trauma, and sustainable ways to practice the profession.

Note: *Do not wait for traditional spring semester enrollment to open in the fall, as that will be too late for the application process and meaningful preparation.*

Semester: FALL ’26 and SPRING ‘27

Instructor: Kate Mackintosh (External)

Through partnership between The Promise Institute for Human Rights and Experiential Education, students are placed at international courts and legal organizations for full-time, semester-long (15 weeks) externships, while simultaneously completing a class taught by Prof. Mackintosh. Your stay in Europe includes a fully-funded field trip to Geneva, Switzerland, to observe the United Nations in action and meet with a range of legal practitioners for behind-the-scenes stories of working in international law. 

This exciting opportunity to travel and work with some of the world’s premier courts and international institutions does require specific conditions. Students accepted to the program must be fully prepared to travel to and live in The Hague for a semester: once you have been accepted, you cannot drop the course unless a true emergency exists.

There is a separate application process for this course. Applications for this class open in September. Look out for an information session at the start of the fall semester. If you are interested in applying, contact Kate Mackintosh now at mackintosh@law.ucla.edu.