Social Rights in International Law: From Theory to Practice

online course

The Summer Course will focus on social rights in contemporary international law. Although all human rights are nowadays considered as indivisible and interdependent, economic, social and cultural rights have received less attention than civil and political rights in both domestic and international law, due to the prevalent perception in past decades that they were non-enforceable and non-justiciable programmatic rights. The Summer Course will approach this perception critically and will highlight recent developments that illustrate the renewed interest and relevance of social rights in the contemporary world.
In this context, the Summer Course will delve into a variety of crucial aspects of social rights in contemporary international law. The lectures by renowned scholars and experts in the field will focus, inter alia, on the historical evolution of social rights as human rights; the main universal and regional instruments, particularly the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the European Social Charter, the controversial questions of justiciability, enforceability and extraterritorial effects of social rights; the nature and scope of state obligations to respect, protect and fulfill social rights; the obligation of non-State actors to uphold social rights in the framework of investment and other activities etc. These issues will be covered from a practical perspective by examining the most recent practice and case law of domestic courts, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the European Committee of Social Rights, the approach of the European Court of Human Rights and other regional courts and organs.

Course leader

CONSTANTINIDES Aristoteles (Associate Professor, University of Cyprus); BINDER Christina (Professor, Bundeswehr University Munich)

Target group

The 2021 Thessaloniki Summer Courses on“Social Rights in International Law: From Theory to Practice” is open to undergraduate and postgraduate students, especially LLM students and PhD candidates, young academics, personnel of international organizations, researchers and practitioners from all over the world with a keen interest in International Law, International Human Rights Law and International Social Rights Protection. In the framework of the course, participants will have the chance to engage in discussions with some of the most renowned scholars in the field and get acquainted with cutting-edge research in the field of social rights.

Course aim

The KalliopiKoufa Foundation has launched, beginning July 2015, an academic programme providing a unique experience for participants specializing in international law and human rights. The programme under the title “Thessaloniki Summer Courses on International Law and Human Rights” offers, on a yearly basis, a ten-days intensive and highly stimulating summer course covering a variant of salient law and political issues in the relevant social sciences fields.
The “Thessaloniki Summer Courses on International Law and Human Rights” are hosted by the Foundation in the historical city of Thessaloniki They consist of lectures, workshops and seminars conducted by prestigious academics and practitioners from all over the world, and aim to bridge theory with practice and to nourish interactive dialogue. They engage every summer in the in-depth examination of a specific international law and/or human rights topic that is highly significant and current.

Credits info

The Foundation awards a Certificate of Attendance to all participants who have regularly attended the courses, lectures and expert workshops.
The Foundation will also award a Course Diploma. Only participants holding a law degree will be eligible to apply for the Diploma exam. To obtain the Diploma, participantswill need to attend diligently the courses, lectures and workshops and sit a written examination in English on Thursday, 1 July 2021 in the afternoon. The Directors of the Summer Course reserve the right to make a choice of the most qualified candidates, based on their CV and qualifications, to sit in the exam. For practical reasons, the number of participants taking the exam will be limited.

Fee info

EUR 300: Closing date for application is 31 May 2021 and the application fee is 300€. Candidates will be notified on their admission and any decision on scholarship requests via e-mail until 10 June 2021. They will need to pay the application fee until 20 June 2021. There will be no reimbursement in case of withdrawal. The fee covers registration, attendance, course material and the appropriate certificate of attendance but does NOT cover accommodation, travel expenses and any meals. For excursions (optional participation), a small fee will apply (more information will be available in due course).
Participation is subject both to approval of the application and due receipt of the payment of the fee.
EUR 250: Early-bird application: Candidates applying until 31 March 2021 will get a reduced application fee of 250€. They will be notified on their admission and any decision on scholarship requests via e-mail until 10 April 2021. They will need to pay the application fee until 20 April 2021. In case of withdrawal until 30 April 2021, 100€ will be reimbursed. There will be no reimbursement after that date.The fee covers registration, attendance, course material and the appropriate certificate of attendance but does NOT cover accommodation, travel expenses and any meals. For excursions (optional participation), a small fee will apply (more information will be available in due course).
Participation is subject both to approval of the application and due receipt of the payment of the fee.

Scholarships

The Foundation may offer a limited number of scholarships upon its absolute discretion to candidates who are nationals of non-EU and non-OECD countries and hold a law degree at the time of application.
Scholarship requests should be made upon application