Master of Arts in Human Rights
Program level :
Graduate (Master’s) Degree awarded:
MA Official title:
Master of Arts in Human Rights Host unit(s):
Department of Legal Studies CEU credits:
36 ECTS credits:
72 Type of degree:
CEU Program accreditation:
Program approved and registered by the New York State Education Department Program length :
11 months Program URL(s):
Master of Arts in Human Rights Head(s)/Director(s):
Károly Bárd Program administrator:
Maria Balla Tuition fees and fellowship information:
CEU application details:
Start of the program :
August Program Description:
Since its foundation in 1998 the Human Rights Program has been offering quality graduate level education to students from various parts of the world, including Central and Eastern Europe, former Soviet Union and the Balkans. In recent years the number of students from Africa, America and from Asia has increased considerably. From the very beginning the main goal of the program has been to provide theoretical and practical training for future scholars and professionals in human rights, with special emphasis on the legal aspects of human rights protection.
While the program is interdisciplinary in nature, it is firmly based in the study of legal science. The department recruits students from all disciplines within social sciences, thus the program offers a unique opportunity for non-lawyers to benefit from a curriculum with legal focus. Teaching is designed to incorporate both the abstract theoretical material and concrete empirical analyses of the most important questions in human rights. The program offers practical instruction in the specific legal mechanisms and institutional processes which may be used by national human rights organizations to effectively approach human rights issues that transitional and also established democracies might confront.
Areas of research and teaching cover - among others - international mechanisms for the protection of human rights, with particular focus on the Council of Europe, freedom of expression and freedom of religion, human rights and criminal justice, politics and theories of European integration from a human rights perspective, human rights in Africa, and constitutional protection of basic rights.
The MA in Human Rights remains the first in the region to offer graduate education in international and European human rights law. It addresses primarily the interests of students holding a degree in law or other disciplines who wish understand the theoretical and policy implications of human rights and acquire the skills for successful human rights protection and advocacy.
The program benefits from a close cooperation with the Open Society Justice Initiative, the Open Society Institute and the leading Budapest-based NGOs which offer practical experience to our students.
Entry Requirements for the MA in Human Rights
In addition to meeting the General CEU Admissions Requirements, applicants to the HR MA program must submit a 300-word handwritten essay on a specific legal or human rights issue of special interest to them.