Human rights and drug policy summer school, University of Essex

Developing a human rights framework for the study & implementation of drug policy

Drug control is a neglected and under-researched human rights theme despite the scale of human rights abuses occurring in its name each year. The relationship between international human rights law and international drug control law is therefore a significant issue for human rights activists and scholars, yet to date it has largely gone unaddressed. In recent years, advocates have begun to use the tools provided by international human rights law as means to close this gap. However, the current scope of work addressing human rights and drug policy remains too narrow to shift the paradigm of international drug control away from its current punitive approach and towards one grounded in human rights.

The Essex Summer School on Human Rights and Drug Policy provides the core legal foundations of human rights and drug control, presents tools to undertake research, introduces the political landscape of policy reform and provides an in-depth discussion on the some of the most polarising human rights issues in the lead up to the UNGASS and beyond. It is an essential course for postgraduate students interested in emerging human rights themes, academics, and human rights professionals working in NGOs, government and international organisations.

This summer school module will be taught by a combination of Essex and external human rights academics and practitioners. Confirmed teachers include:

• Dr Rick Lines, Visiting Fellow, Human Rights Centre, Co-Founder/Chair International Centre on Human Rights and Drug Policy, Executive Director Harm Reduction International
• Professor Dave Bewley-Taylor, Swansea University, Director Global Drug Policy Observatory
• Professor Joanne Csete, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
• Professor Matthew Weait, Birkbeck University of London
• Damon Barrett, Visiting Fellow, Human Rights Centre, University of Essex, Co-Founder/Director International Centre on Human Rights and Drug Policy; Stockholm University
• Dr Julia Buxton, Central Eastern European University
• Julie Hannah, Co-Director of the International Centre on Human Rights and Drug Policy, University of Essex

For further details and to apply,please click here.

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