Postgraduate MA

International Human Rights Practice

Link legal, theoretical and technical skills with human rights knowledge to work for global organisations. You’ll fight injustice, oppression and persecution.

International Human Rights Practice

Course overview

  • Institution code


    L27
  • Main location


    City Campus
  • Attendance


    Full-Time
  • Duration


    12 Months
  • Start date


    21 Sep 2026

Created in collaboration with tutors from the university's Leeds Law School, this course will provide you with the expertise and practical skills to help protect human rights and tackle abuses.

As part of this international human rights practice course, you’ll:

  • Study contemporary debates in human rights promotion and protection
  • Research stories of violations, asylum, surveillance, peacekeeping and torture that are behind many of today's news headlines
  • Work with your tutors and alongside industry professionals to investigate claims of human rights abuses, gather evidence and build cases for legal proceedings
  • Hone your research and project management skills
  • Develop your ability to write compelling funding applications and formulate budgets - essential requirements for a career in this area

Teaching expertise

You’ll learn from a highly skilled and research-active teaching team who are experts in:

  • Human rights law and practice
  • Security
  • Peace studies
  • Evidence-gathering
  • Crime investigation

Our team of academics include staff who have conducted ground-breaking research into why climate change is causing conflict in Africa. You’ll also be taught by professors who have worked with international non-governmental organisations on peacekeeping projects in Georgia.

Other tutors have worked closely with organisations such as:

Industry links

Guest lectures will provide you with the chance to engage with professionals working in the field, ensuring your course is at the cutting-edge of human rights practice. Past speakers include:

  • Andrew Gilligan, London Editor of The Sunday Telegraph
  • Tony Bunyan, Director of Statewatch
  • Stephen Bowen, Director of the British Institute of Human Rights

Why study the International Human Rights Practice course at Leeds Beckett University?

  1. Research-led teaching – your learning will be guided by the latest research and thinking in the field
  2. Guest lectures and conferences – learn from speakers’ professional experiences and insight
  3. Engage with charitable and public sector organisations – during our annual Politics & International Relations Festival
  4. Learn in a small group - share ideas and debate issues with your peers
  5. Part-time option – fit your studies around your existing commitments

Why climate change is causing conflict in Africa Dr Olayinka Ajala, a lecturer in Politics and International Relations at Leeds Beckett University, shares his ground-breaking research into why climate change is causing conflict in Africa and explains how this feeds into his teaching so that students can relate what they are learning to current world issues.

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