Program Overview

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After the economic crisis and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, are you concerned about the impacts of austerity and public health measures on economic, social and cultural rights? Are you interested in public policies and laws – on health, education, housing or food security – and how human rights can make a difference? Our ground-breaking LLM Economic, Social and Cultural Rights builds on our distinctive expertise and reputation of working on the protection of economic, social and cultural rights in countries around the world and at the United Nations. We combine cutting-edge scholarship and practice on the legal aspects of realising economic, social and cultural rights, with the latest thinking in the implementation of these rights. The course focuses on:

• International human rights law protections of economic, social and cultural rights
• How human rights law is developed through public policy and practice
• New tools and methodologies for achieving these rights

We include a range of key law courses to enable our non-law students to develop an understanding of human rights, public international, constitutional and administrative law. This course is also available on a part-time basis. Why we're great.

• Work on real-life projects with our Human Rights Centre Clinic
• You have excellent opportunities to network with scholars, policymakers, and practitioners working on economic, social and cultural rights
• 3rd in UK for research power in law (Times Higher Education research power measure, Research Excellence Framework 2021)

Our expert staff

Our work has always been informed by human rights practice and our expert staff have held key positions in the United Nations human rights and development fields, as well as working with national human rights institutions and civil society organisations on economic, social and cultural rights. At Essex, our objective is to ensure you receive a rigorous academic education that also prepares you for working as a human rights advocate. Every member of our teaching team is a leading human rights academic, as well as a practitioner in the field.

• Judith Bueno De Mesquita , Lecturer and Deputy Director of the Human Rights Centre Clinic. Judith has previously worked with the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health; and as a consultant with, amongst others, the World Health Organisation, the Independent Panel on Pandemic Preparedness and Response, UNFPA, OHCHR, UNICEF, DFID, Medact and International Planned Parenthood Foundation.
• Dr Koldo Casla , Lecturer and Deputy Director of the Human Rights Centre Clinic. Koldo previously worked as the chief of staff of the Human Rights Commissioner of the Basque Country (Spain) and coordinated the UK social rights NGO Just Fair. He has also been a research consultant for Amnesty International in Spain and Crisis in the UK, among others.
• Professor Paul Hunt . Paul has previously been Special Adviser on Human Rights in the World Health Organisation, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health 2002-08, and member of the UN Committee on Economic and Social Rights 1999-2002. (Currently on leave leading the New Zealand Human Rights Commission).

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Specialist facilities

• Participate in various legal competitions to hone your debating, mediation and negotiation skills
• Work on key human rights projects at our Human Rights Clinic
• Network at our student-run Law Society , Human Rights Society , and Bar Society , which provides legal advice to the Commonwealth Students’ Association (CSA)
• Volunteer at the Essex Law Clinic where you can work alongside practicing solicitors to offer legal advice to clients
• Join our Model United Nations society , which can improve your skills of argumentation, oral presentation and research
• Take advantage of networking opportunities throughout the year with visiting law firms

Aside from the Human Rights Clinic , the Human Rights Centre has a number of specialist projects:

• Essex Business and Human Rights Project
• International Centre on Human Rights and Drug Policy
• Essex Autonomy Project
• a href="https://www.essex.ac.uk/research-projects/human-rights-local">Human Rights Local
• Human Rights, Big Data and Technology Project
• Digital Verification Unit
• Essex Transitional Justice Network
• Detention, Rights and Social Justice Programme

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Your future

The majority of our students go on, or return, to work in human rights as litigators, in NGOs and international organisations like the UN, in government (particularly Ministries of Foreign Affairs), national human rights institutions, think-tanks and in academia. They are a conspicuous presence in all the key human rights hubs in the world. The Human Rights Centre has a strong tradition in the field of economic, social and cultural rights, and our alumni occupy leadership and research positions in leading international human rights civil society organisations, and have been appointed as UN human rights independent experts. We are first university in the UK to sign a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). This creates internship and research opportunities for our postgraduate students and is based on our long-established expertise in international humanitarian law. During the year, we hold a careers session for our students in which we reflect upon our own careers and how they have been built as well as those from former students. We are always available to discuss career options and if you are interested in a particular area of human rights, we can link you up with the relevant alumni to offer advice. We work with the University’s Careers Services to help you find out about further work experience, internships, placements, and voluntary opportunities. Take a look at our dedicated careers pages for Law and Human Rights.