Incarceration and Human Rights in Comparative and International Law

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.