The course consists of four parts covering: the legal, historical, ethical and political aspects of human rights. The first part explores the legal dimension paying particular attention to the UN Declaration of 1948 and the seven later conventions within the UN treaty based system for the protection of human rights. Regional systems for HR protection, under the auspices of the Council of Europe, the Organization of American States and the African Union, are also taken into consideration. The second part of the course traces the history of human rights as a political concept. The evolution of human rights is mapped as part of the development of the nation-state and the constant need to include or exclude human beings. In the third part of the course moral questions with regard to human rights are raised.Why do human beings have rights? What is the main critique of human rights? Religious perspectives on human rights are also considered. In the fourth part of the course, the strengths and weaknesses of the international human rights regime is studied in light of different perspectives on international relations and globalization, especially with regard to compliance and accountability. The relationship between states and nonstate actors, such as advocacy networks, NGOs and transnational corporations, in the protection of human rights is explored, as well as tensions between unilateralism and multilateralism in human rights protection.