LLAW6153 & JDOC6153

General Course Information

1.1 Course details

Course code: LLAW6153 / JDOC6153
Course name: Business and Human Rights
Programme offered under: LLM Programme / JD Programme
Semester: June
Prerequisites / Co-requisites: No
Credit point value: 9 credit / 6 credits

1.2 Course description

With the rise in the power and functions of corporations in a globalised economy, business enterprises are increasingly expected to bear human rights responsibilities beyond the goal of maximising profit for shareholders. The adoption of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and various other regulatory initiatives is reflective of this expectation. Against this background, this course aims to enable students to explore the evolution of business and human rights (BHR) as a specialised field, assess its relationship with other notions such as corporate social responsibility (CSR), and examine critically various regulatory initiatives that seek to promote socially responsible business conduct. BHR in this course is taken in a broad sense to include both legal and moral/ethical responsibilities of business in the areas of human rights, labour rights, and the environment. After providing background related to the intersection of business with human rights, students will be exposed to various BHR issues falling within the three broad sets of questions: why should business enterprises have human rights responsibilities; what is the nature and extent of these responsibilities; and how could human rights responsibilities be enforced against business enterprises and victims be provided effective remedies for corporate human rights abuses.

After completing this course, students should be able to discover why and how BHR policies should be integrated into day-to-day business decisions and how corporate executives could handle human rights dilemmas that arise during business operations. During the course, students should also be able to internalise the importance of acting in an ethical and socially responsible manner in their normal lives.

1.3 Course teachers

Name E-mail address Office Consultation
Course convenor Surya Deva TBA N/A By email
Course convenor Justin Nolan TBA N/A By email

Learning Outcomes

2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course

To be advised.

2.2 LLM and JD Programme Learning Outcomes (PLOs)

Please refer to the following link:

LLM – https://course.law.hku.hk/llm-plo/

JD – https://course.law.hku.hk/jd-plo/

2.3 Programme Learning Outcomes to be achieved in this course

PLO A PLO B PLO C PLO D PLO E PLO F
CLO 1
CLO 2
CLO 3
CLO 4
CLO 5

Assessment(s)

3.1 Assessment Summary

Assessment task Due date Weighting Feedback method* Course learning outcomes
In class presence and discussion N/A 10%
Individual presentation TBC 10%
Group presentation on due diligence TBC 30%
Take home exam TBC 50%
*Feedback method (to be determined by course teacher)
1 A general course report to be disseminated through Moodle
2 Individual feedback to be disseminated by email / through Moodle
3 Individual review meeting upon appointment
4 Group review meeting
5 In-class verbal feedback

3.2 Assessment Detail

To be advised by course convenor(s).

3.3 Grading Criteria

Please refer to the following link: https://www.law.hku.hk/_files/law_programme_grade_descriptors.pdf

Learning Activities

4.1 Learning Activity Plan

Seminar: 3 hours / week for 12 teaching weeks
Private study time: 9.5 hours / week for 12 teaching weeks

Remarks: the normative student study load per credit unit is 25 ± 5 hours (ie. 150 ± 30 hours for a 6-credit course), which includes all learning activities and experiences within and outside of classroom, and any assessment task and examinations and associated preparations.

4.2 Details of Learning Activities

To be advised by course convenor(s).

Learning Resources

5.1 Resources

Reading materials: Reading materials are posted on Moodle
Core reading list: TBA
Recommended reading list: TBA

5.2 Links

Please refer to the following link: http://www.law.hku.hk/course/learning-resources/