The Central Role of Justice and Human Rights in the “Human Rights” Master's Program
The date commemorates 17 July 1998, when a United Nations conference in Rome adopted the Rome Statute - the international treaty that forms the legal basis of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. By the end of 2000, 139 states had signed the statute and recognized the jurisdiction of the permanent international criminal court.
The International Criminal Court prosecutes the gravest crimes known to the international community: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. The day draws attention worldwide to the importance of a binding system of international criminal law - and to the principle that impunity for the most serious human rights violations can never be an option.
Yet justice is not confined to international courtrooms. It is a principle that carries entire societies - from international law all the way into everyday life. Whether people are treated equally, whether they are protected from discrimination, and whether they can access their rights is often decided far from the grand stage: in public authorities, companies, educational institutions and everyday interactions. The rule of law connects both levels - international criminal justice as much as protection from discrimination on the ground.
At the Postgraduate Center of the University of Vienna, our continuing-education program “Human Rights” LL.M provides in-depth knowledge of human rights and how they are enforced. As well as equips professionals to recognize discrimination, implement effective anti-discrimination measures and shape diversity within the framework of the rule of law topics that one of our lecturers, a lawyer at the Ombud for Equal Treatment (Gleichbehandlungsanwaltschaft), brings directly from practice into the classroom.
In this way, a day of remembrance becomes a concrete mandate: justice must be learned, shaped and defended again and again.
