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International Labour Law

Overview

Module description

This course will examine the field of international labour law. It provides an introduction to the International Labour Organization (ILO) and its regulatory framework. You will be encouraged not only to understand how the international labour standards are set, supervised and enforced but also to analyse the wider significance of these rules in reflecting global production. The course will approach international labour rights related to issues such as trade, intellectual property and migration.

Indicative module syllabus

  • The global structure of production
  • Supranational sources of labour regulation; a historical background and introduction to the ILO (origins, constitution and role)
  • The ILO and its core instruments: content of the international labour standards
  • The ILO and its standard setting and supervisory machinery
  • Labour rights and trade: ILO core labour standards and the social clause in trade agreements
  • Labour rights and debt: labour conditionality
  • Labour rights and intellectual property
  • Global value chains
  • The transnational labour law
  • Migration, automatisation and contemporary changes in production
  • The future of international labour regulation

Learning objectives

By the end of this module, you should have:

  • an understanding of the legal framework of global production
  • a deep knowledge of the international labour standards
  • a knowledge of the major issues in the International Labour Organization
  • an ability to relate domestic labour law with international labour standards
  • a good understanding of the ideas and doctrines sustaining core international labour rights
  • an ability to place labour rights in their social, economic and political context.

Recommended reading

  • Alston, Phillip (2005) Labour Rights as Human Rights. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Ashiagbor, Diamond (2005) The European Employment Strategy: Labour Market Regulation and New Governance. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Adelle Blackett and Anne Trebilcock (eds) (2015) Research Handbook on Transnational Labour Law. Edward Elgar.
  • S. Charnovitz (2015) ‘Reinventing the ILO’ ILR 91.
  • Nicola Countouris and Mark Freedland (2013) Resocialising Europe in Time of Crisis. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Guy Davidov and Brian Langille (eds) (2011) The Idea of Labour Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Fenwick, Colin and Novitz, Tonia (eds.) (2010) Human Rights at Work. Hart Publishing: Oxford.
  • Hepple, Bob (2006) Labour Laws and Global Trade. Hart.
  • Maupin, Francis (2013) The Future of the International Labour Organization in the Global Economy. Hart.
  • P. O’Higgins (1997) ‘Labour is Not a Commodity’ 26 ILJ 225.
  • Servais, Jean-Michel (2014) International Labour Law, Kluwer Law International.
  • Valticos N., Potobsky G. Von (1995) International Labour Law. Kluwer.