Human Rights Law

Accessing one’s rights is vital to maintain justice in society. To activate legal mechanisms that help address grievances, it is important to know one’s fundamental rights and the extent and scope of these rights. Rainmaker has launched this course, in collaboration with the Ford Foundation, India, to bring legal literacy of basic human rights and the access to justice to a wider audience. While an individual can enrol in this course and study the content for personal use, this course can also be used in a ‘train-the-trainer’ format.
This course contains ten Units where each unit is devoted to a separate topic within the subject matter of human rights law. A Unit comprises of a Reading Material and a Video Lecture. Some Units are also accompanied by Supplementary Materials that contain model formats, specific guidelines or additional information.
The course aims to provide the student with a working knowledge of the legal framework governing human rights in India. It will also help the student understand special legal provisions such as the Right to Information Act, the Consumer Protection Act and similar civil law remedies.

Unit 1 – The State of Human Rights  
 
This Unit introduces the student to the concept of human rights, the legal structure that enables human rights internationally and in India, as well as the specific laws that govern human rights in India. It will also teach the student special rights recognised by Indian law for vulnerable groups. The video lecture accompanying this Unit will focus on the difference between prescriptive and interpretative rights.
 
Unit 2 –Situations the Require Intervention
 
This Unit will outline the concept of fundamental rights as guaranteed by the Constitution of India. It will also introduce the student to various remedies available to redress grievances incurred against these rights.
 
Unit 3 – Standing Before the Court
 
In this Unit, the student will learn about the legal provisions that govern the ability to file a case before a competent to court to address the issue at hand.
 
Unit 4 – Types of Civil Remedies – Arms of the Law
 
This Unit explores the use of civil law at the level of the lower courts as well as alternative authorities to enable speedy access to justice. It will also help the student understand the importance of civil law apart from the writ jurisdictions of the constitutional courts.
 
Unit 5 – Types of Civil Remedies – Specific Interventions
 
In this Unit, the student will learn the use of ancillary legal processes such as seeking information under the Right to Information Act and the Consumer Protection Act.
 
Unit 6 – Protection Through Special Jurisdictions
 
This Unit will expand on the understanding of constitutional remedies outlined in Unit 2. It will focus on the expansive nature of writ jurisdictions under Articles 226 and 32 and will also take a look at the Human Rights Act as well as other authorities empowered to address violations of human rights in India.
 
Unit 7 – Rights for the Differently-Abled
 
This Unit focuses on the legal rights of the differently-abled and mechanisms envisaged by the law to enable access to these rights.
 
Unit 8 – Women’s Rights
 
In this unit, we take a look at gender-specific laws enacted to provide enhanced security and stability to women. This unit will look at criminal legal provisions that protect women from gender-based crimes as well as civil laws that provide access to maintenance.
 
Unit 9 – Rights of the Child
This unit will outline laws focused on children and child protection mechanisms. It will give a brief overview of welfare as well as social justice legal provisions.
 
Unit 10 – Human Rights Law Practice
 
This unit focuses on balancing professional legal commitments along with providing a high quality of legal care and assistance to marginalized people.