Legal Advocacy & Human Rights in China
SUMMERY
Through this seminar, students will explore how Chinese public interest lawyers navigate the Chinese legal system. The seminar will look especially at lawyers who have been a part of the “rights defense” movement in China who represent clients in a range of criminal and civil cases that touch on issues including property rights, healthcare, land rights, women’s rights, religious freedom, and workers’ rights. Students will examine the Chinese legal framework and the challenges and opportunities for public interest lawyers within that system who seek to support human rights. Bridging theory and practice, students will undertake advocacy projects that consider what strategies work for lawyers to best represent their clients’ interests or advocate for legal reform, through consideration of legal advocacy, international lobbying, and media advocacy. Students will examine experiences in other countries and consider how best practices from those experiences may be developed and integrated within the Chinese context.

OVERVIEW

This class is capped at 12 students.

Fall 2010