On this page you can find an overview of all our LL.M thesis topics
Do you want to write your LL.M thesis on a human rights topic? Choose one of these topics and contact the relevant supervisor.
With its judgment of 2019 in the case of Urgenda, the Netherlands’ Supreme Court set an important precedent for climate litigation: it ordered the State to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25% before the end of 2020. The Supreme Court achieved this by relying on, inter alia, rights protected under the European […]
All subjects in the domain of human rights or transitional justice in which the student applies a socio-legal perspective ann integrates a substantial empirical component (qualitative and/or quantitative) to examine the law “in practice”.
The original idea/request comes from Nicoletta Charalambidou who does the litigation on illegal expulsions from Cyprus to Lebanon for KISA and EuroMed Rights.
This research deals with the impact of prosecution of “minor offences” on people living in poverty in Europe. Through case studies (criminalization of beggars, SyRI case in the Netherlands etc. ), it explores whether minor offences – which are usually punished by outstanding fines with minimum procedural rights – are compatible with the ECHR (more […]
Is there a good example of a working independent border monitoring mechanism? Article 7 of the proposed Screening Regulation (part of the new ‘Pact’) envisages a monitoring mechanism, which can be developed by the Member States. This LLM thesis analyses existing monitoring mechanisms of rights violations at external borders, and makes a comparative analysis between […]
The European Court of Human Rights has been reluctant to find that states violate the European Convention on Human Rights in so called ‘push-back’ operations. This has incited lawyers at European borders to turn to UN treaty bodies such as the Human Rights Committee and the UN Committee against Torture. There too they face various […]
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) is increasingly confronted with cases which involve the submission of evidence arising from new technologies. This evidence can be of different types. It includes for example electronic data, email communication, GPS technology, internet, mobile telephone applications, telecommunications, video cameras and video surveillance. What are the key considerations which […]
Particular focus on Myanmar/Sri Lanka or Cambodia. Language requirement ENG.
Topic suggested by ECRE (European Council on Refugees and Exiles). Is there an obligation under international law to readmit state’s own nationals who do not wish to return to their country of origin (i.e. they are removed/ deported/ expelled)? The EU institutions and Member States repetitively refer to such a legal obligation to put pressure […]
Focus on the Mediterranean or boat pushbacks in Southeast Asia. Language requirement Eng.
Climate change activists are increasingly and urgently looking at challenging corporations or states in courts. They face serious challenges in doins so. One of these is proving causality, i.e., that the defendant is responsible for the harm suffered by the applicant(s). This is very difficult because the effects of pollution occur not only over a […]
Study of the marginalisation of certain regions in the TJ process, looking into the importance of socio-economic rights in ICL. Language requirement ENG.
In 2010 Marie-Benedicte Dembour published an article entitled ‘What are Human Rights? Four Schools of Thought’ in Human Rights Quarterly. Her model posits that we do not all conceive of human rights in the same way, but that there are four main conceptions of human rights. She proposes that those who hold a ‘natural’ view […]
Suggested by and with cosupervision from PICUM, the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants. The thesis would look at the different procedural rights which should be implemented during the adoption of an immigration detention decision (i.e. right to information, to legal counsel, to judicial overview, to challenge the lawfulness of detention) as well as […]
The summer of 2015 saw Europe hit by a refugee crisis – or some commentators say – more accurately a crisis in refugee protection. Marie-Benedicte Dembour asserts in an article forthcoming in Questions of International Law that, due to the relative weakness of its past jurisprudence concerning migrants’ rights, the European Court of Human Rights […]
The Inter-American system of human rights protection was born more than 60 years ago. Its impact on the development of legal standards in the Americas has been tremendously significant in a number of fields. Cases in point include forced disapperances, gender-based violence and the rights of indigenous communities. The Inter-American Court is generally recognised to […]
Could be further narrowed down to a particular focus on the UN, European or Inter-American standards of protection. Language requirement ENG & Spanish.
Since its creation in 1959, the European Court of Human Rights has delivered more than 23,000 judgments. One would assume it has accumulated considerable experience in resolving not only legal, but also factual disputes between the parties to proceedings before it. At times, however, the Judges and Registry lawyers at the Court are confronted with […]
Study of development of strategic litigation, the possibilities and limitations of using this approach. Language requirement ENG & Spanish.
Case study of the Tunisian court establised to adjudicate cases related to gross violations of human rights. Language requirement ENG.
Oral testimony tends to be considered very useful when a person who was directly involved in an event explains exactly what happened. At the same time, any inconsistency in the testimomy may lead to the account being dismissed as unreliable. However, it may also be reasoned that, even though some errors may well infiltrate themselves […]
In September 2020, Cyprus started to forcibly return Syrian and Lebanese nationals who arrived by boat to its coast line. As of May 2021, Lebanese General Security has proceeded to systematically detain all individuals who are returned by the Cypriot police – at times proceeding also to deport some of these pushback victims to Syria. […]
Needless to say, having evidence being declared inadmissible can be devastating to a case. Two cases which ended up before the European Court of Human Rights due to the inadmissibility being contested are Cwik v Poland and R.B. v Estoni. In Cwik, the ECtHR agreed that the tape of the interrogation by a gang of […]
