The Venice Academy of Human Rights will take place from 4-13 July 2016.

The theme of this year’s academy is ‘Backlash against Human Rights?’.

Online applications are accepted until 29 May 2016.

Faculty of the Venice Academy 2016

Distinguished Opening Lecture
András Sajó, Vice-President of the European Court of Human Rights

Distinguished Seminar
Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Chairman of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry for Syria

General Course
Robert-McCorquodale, Director of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law

Faculty
Joseph A. Cannataci, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy and Professor of Information Technology at the Universities of Malta and Groningen

Helen Fenwick, Professor of Law at Durham University

Mark Goodale, Professor in Cultural and Social Anthropology at the University of Lausanne

Geir Ulfstein, Professor of International Law at the University of Oslo and Co-director of PluriCourts – Centre for the Study of the Legitimate Roles of the Judiciary in the Global Order

You can view the detailed programme here.

Key Facts

Theme: Backlash against Human Rights?
Dates: Monday, 4 July – Wednesday, 13 July 2016
Application Deadline:  29 May 2016
Faculty: András Sajó (opening lecture), Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro (special seminar), Robert McCorquodale (general course), Joseph A. Cannataci, Helen Fenwick, Mark Goodale, Geir Ulfstein
Participants: Academics, practitioners, PhD/JSD and master students
Type of courses: Lectures, seminars, discussion sessions and panel presentations
Number of hours: 34 hours
Venue: EIUC, Monastery of San Nicolò, Venice – Lido, Italy

Backlash against Human Rights?
International and regional human rights systems have witnessed remarkably outspoken critiques that emphasise a movement back towards the nation State and national sovereignty. The European Court of Human Rights is occasionally openly criticised, if not attacked, for overstepping its competencies and intervening in national affairs. National supreme courts reassert their own status and authority. In addition, fundamental freedoms have been restricted in the name of security and greater national interests. We are also witnessing a new radicalisation of politics that sheds doubts both economically and socially on the viability of the European Union and on other regional integration projects.
The 2016 Venice Academy of Human Rights looks at these developments from an institutional, legal, political and interdisciplinary perspective. Lectures and seminars by the distinguished faculty focus on the expansion and resistance to human rights obligations, counter-terrorist laws and policies, restrictions of civil liberties, processes of exclusion and redistribution in society, and the legitimacy crisis of human rights courts.

Venice Academy of Human Rights
The Venice Academy of Human Rights is an international programme of excellence for human rights education, research and debate. It forms part of the European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation (EIUC).
The Academy offers interdisciplinary thematic programmes open to academics, practitioners, doctoral and master students with an advanced knowledge of human rights. Participants attend morning lectures, participate in discussion sessions and workshops and can exchange views, ideas and arguments with leading international scholars and experts. This includes the opportunity for a number of participants to present and discuss their own “work in progress” such as drafts of articles, chapters of books or doctoral theses and receive comments from faculty members and peers.
At the end of the programme, participants receive a Certificate of Attendance issued by the Venice Academy of Human Rights.