Human Rights and Health Care Law
Module code: LW7096
In this module, we will be investigating the current and potential role of human rights law in regulating health and health care. We will look at a number of different issues such as the right to health and adequate living standards; the role of special rapporteurs in promoting health and human rights; the right to autonomy and consent to medical treatment; abortion and conflicting rights; and human rights law and end of life decision-making. The focus will be on the relationship between human rights law and health issues. So, for example, we will explore whether there is a right to die by means of assisted suicide; whether there is a right to receive emergency medical treatment; and the potential conflict of rights in the context of abortion – is there a right to abortion for the mother and/or a right to life for the foetus? There will also be a case study on Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health. The module will engage with both international law (in the form of human rights treaties and cases decided by treaty bodies, especially the ECHR) and also domestic law (primarily that of England and Wales, but may also include some comparative jurisdictions).