Limits of Human Rights and Liberal Democracy
- Tórshavn - August 18-22, 2025
An international Summer seminar/course will be held in Tórshavn at the University of the Faroe Islands, August 18-22, 2025. The course may be taken for 5, 7,5, or 10 ECTS credits. All versions include the Seminar, completion of which yields 5 ECTS credits. The 7,5-credit and 10-credit versions of the course include additional reading requirements.
Programme: The main purpose of the seminar is to introduce the students to a selection of the criticisms that have been directed at the structures and practices of human rights institutions such as the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and at current conceptions and the implementation of liberal democracy in polities that purport to be based upon its principles.
As a part of this study, students will be introduced to a selection of the literature that advances these criticisms. There is a large critical literature in both of these areas that has not received the same academic attention as the literature that is more positive in its evaluation of the role of liberal human rights in democratic societies. There is no implication that the seminar should favor the criticisms, only that the selected criticisms, and the reasoning behind them, should be explored rather than ignored.
Seminar classes are scheduled for five days – 18-22 August 2025 – with class sessions running 9-12 and 13-16 on each day.
The Seminar – including assigned readings and class discussions and counting for 5 ECTS credits – will conclude with an up to 30 minutes oral examination to be hald on line on September 1, 2025.
Students opting for the 7,5 ECTS or the 10 ECTS variants of the course will in addition have to read independently one (for 7,5 ECTS) or two (for 10 ECTS) specially assigned scholarly articles which will be covered on the oral examination.
Enrolment: Application deadline is Friday 20th of June, at 12 noon. The number of participants is limited to 15.
Programme Leader: Bárður Larsen, Associate Professor in Law
Contact: BardurL@setur.fo
Readings: The reading materials will be made available on the Moodle network shortly after application deadline.