Bespoke Training and Capacity Building
The Human Rights Law Centre develops tailored training and capacity building on relevant issues of human rights law and criminal law to meet the needs of a wide range of national and international clients, including judiciary, government representatives, staff of international and non-governmental organisations, General Attorney Offices and UN field missions.
The Nottingham Edge
The University of Nottingham Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC) is one of the leading and best known university-based human rights institutions. Established in 1993, we have developed an impressive record of design and delivery of human rights research, technical cooperation and training in the fields of human rights and international criminal justice. Our work is complemented by the international status of the University of Nottingham which has campuses in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Ningbo, China.
What We Offer
Highly-experienced training staff, experts and practitioners;
Flexibility in course content and delivery, tailored exactly to meet needs;
Pedagogically appropriate teaching and training methods;
Access to excellent University of Nottingham facilities, world class library, research and training facilities.
The Co-Chairs of HRLC - Professor David Harris and Professor Michael O’Flaherty- are internationally respected experts in human rights law with significant experience in advising and training public officials. They have written extensively on international human rights issues and have provided human rights training to high level government officials and other organisations in a wide range of different countries globally.
Our trainers and facilitators are highly-skilled professionals, with excellent research profiles, extensive practical experience and high international reputations in their respective fields.
HRLC also benefits from the expertise of the 50-strong faculty of the University of Nottingham School of Law, which is one of Britain’s top law schools, and an international network of partners and collaborators. For more information about training staff, please see our Centre Members and Fellows and Staff pages.
HRLC has extensive experience of creating and implementing bespoke training and capacity building programmes for key actors at the national and international level, including government officials, judiciary and members of international organizations as well as civil society representatives in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean.
Previous clients include the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights, the Office of the Judiciary in Thailand, the Ukrainian Judiciary, the Office of the Attorney General in Fiji and Samoa, the UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
Training courses are designed in direct consultation with our clients to ensure course content and methods are appropriate to the needs, experience and positions of participants.
Our trainers have an extremely broad range of expertise in core human rights issues and topics, including:
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International Human Rights System and its Standards, including civil and political, economic, social and cultural rights and third generation rights;
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Regional and national human rights protection mechanisms;
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Compliance with European Human Rights Standards;
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Independent Monitoring of Human Rights;
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National Implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court;
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British criminal justice system.
HRLC has provided tailored training and capacity building programmes for professionals from all over the world since 1997, designing programmes that are appropriate to the participants.
Duration: HRLC has the capacity to tailor course length to meet participants’ need and availability, typically ranging from 1 day to two weeks.
Language Support: we understand the importance of communication. While most training takes place in English, we are able to provide both consecutive and simultaneous interpretation. We can advice our clients on the most appropriate method of interpretation and ensure that the programme content reflects the chosen method. Recordings of simultaneous interpretation are also available, as well as in-class language support, or language classes at the University’s modern language centre.
Content: our broad network of trainers, partners and collaborators can provide targeted human rights training on a wide range of human rights issues. The background, skills and professional interests of each training group are reviewed in a consultation process and course content is consequently tailored to meet exact needs.
HRLC uses a range of pedagogically appropriate training methods to ensure that participants receive targeted training and capacity building, appropriate to their needs, experience and positions. Methods include:
Reading: Prior to the programme start, participants receive comprehensive reading packs, comprising materials on module topics, facilitator profiles and study visit background information.
Advanced Study: Advanced study seminars, delivered by experienced academics, provide in-depth legal and theoretical groundings of each subject area, before considering the realities of practice, challenges and potential solutions.
Skills transfer: Throughout the programme, the experience and expertise of the participants is acknowledged by interactive teaching methodologies and group work opportunities to facilitate peer to peer skills-transfer. Training methods are highly participatory and specific interactive exercises, such as the use of case studies, are developed to fit the needs, experience and level of expertise of the participants.
Practitioner Dialogues: Participants meet appropriate practitioners such as judges, legal professionals as well as governmental and civil society representatives. This gives participants first-hand insight into how practitioners engage with issues covered in the training programme and ensures they develop networks appropriate to their work.
Study Visits: Study Visits supplement the theoretical seminars by providing participants with opportunities to increase their knowledge of and gain first hand insight into the working mechanisms of key political and/or judicial institutions relevant to the theme of the training course.
HRLC and School of Law Activities: Participants are encouraged to attend the diverse range of activities organized regularly by the HRLC and the School of Law, such as the extensive programme of visiting speakers, and the hugely popular Human Rights Film Series. Attendance at these events allows participants to mix with academics and students from all over the world, giving them the opportunity exchange ideas and perspectives about human rights issues worldwide.
Review: Participants are given the chance to evaluate the quality of the training course – either openly in a feedback session with the programme organizers or anonymously by means of a satisfaction questionnaire.
Outcomes: At the conclusion of the course, participants receive a certificate of attendance. All course materials and course memorabilia are made available to the participants electronically, on a USB memory stick, and in hard copy.
Course participants have access to the excellent services and facilities of the University of Nottingham, as well as the human rights based resources of HRLC, including:
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Access to the excellent Hallward Library;
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Access to research journals and databases;
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Access to the School of Law computer room;
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Services accommodating religious and cultural needs, such as areas of worship and catering.
For more information about University of Nottingham facilities, please see the University’s dedicated facilities page.
Previous Training Courses
HRLC has extensive experience of developing tailor-made capacity-building programmes and training tools for a wide range of professionals from all over the world. For more details of our previous clients, please see our page of previous training and capacity building programmes.
Contact Details
For further details please contact Miss Kobie Neita, administrator.