LAW ON THE BOSPHORUS         

ISTANBUL INTERNATIONAL SUMMER SCHOOL

“Current Trends in Human Rights Law”

15-25 August 2013 –İstanbul -Turkey

organized by

 Istanbul University Faculty of Law

in association with

Leiden University, Leiden Law School

and

The Raoul Wallenberg Institute  

OBJECTIVE:

In a globalizing legal order, Human Rights Law has secured a strong foothold as a common binding framework. As the increasing complexities of Law and Society place greater qualitative and quantitative demands on the functioning of legal orders, common ground in such a framework is not only welcome but also necessary. Indeed, with its broad interface with other fields of law and aspects of society, Human Rights Law is structurally deployed not only autonomously but also as an ordering system in many other fields of law. This occurs on many levels: nationally, internationally, supranationally and transnationally.  Essential as it has become however, at the same time, as it rapidly evolves, Human Rights Law itself becomes all the more complex. On the one hand, ‘Human Rights Law’ does not exist as one coherent closed system. Rather, various national and non-national variants operate at the same time, without an institutional hierarchical structure. Both substantively and from an organic and  procedural perspective, Human Rights Law is this decidedly pluralistic. On the other hand, as it develops, Human Rights Law is continually expanding, often in the hands of authoritative supranational Courts such as the European Court of Human Rights, who choose an extensive approach to not only Human Rights Law ‘content’ but also its ‘relationship’ with other types and levels of law.

Keeping a grip on contemporary Human Rights Law is thus not an easy task. The objective of the ‘Current Trends in Human Rights Law’ Summer School is to bring participants ‘on-trend’ with regards to state-of-the-art developments in Human Rights Law. Featuring experts from distinct parts of Europe and the world, the Summer School will be oriented on the most important current distinguishing features and terrains of Human Rights Law. Themes addressed will include:

-          The operation of national versus regional Human Rights Mechanisms and their mutual relationship

-          Human Rights and Diversity

-          Special Vulnerable bearers of Human Rights

-          Discrimination

-          Normative Procedural Frameworks for the operation of Human Rights supervisory systems (such as the European Supranational Courts) and

-          Human Rights Obligations of International Organizations.

The Summer School will be introduced by internationally renowned Human Rights experts, who will be invited to open the progamme with a conference. 

VENUE:

The program will be held in Istanbul University Faculty of Law’s historic premises at the heart of Istanbul-Turkey. The Summer School will take full advantage of the unique opportunities offered by this unique venue, embedding the academic programme with  the excitement and beauty of Istanbul. Lectures and working sessions will take place not only at the Faculty, but also on boat trips on the Bosphorus. The social program will include visits to historical sites such as Topkapı– Dolmabahçe Palaces, Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque and Maiden Tower and to Çağlayan Justice Palace, the largest Court in Europe.

TUTORS:

The speakers will include:

Adem Sözüer (Istanbul University)

Ibrahim Kaya (Istanbul University)

Saadet Yüksel (Istanbul University)

Gülay Arslan Öncü (Istanbul University)

Titia Loenen (Leiden University)

Jasmina Mačkić   (Leiden University)

Pınar Ölçer (Leiden University)

Ville Forsman (Raoul Wallenberg Institute)

Philip Kunig (Free University of Berlin)

Liane Worner (University of Giessen)