Guest Lecture on Human Rights
On September 24, 2026, a guest online lecture on “Human Rights” was held for higher education students and academic staff within the Future of Europe Program – European Union Law Studies for Ukraine.
The lecture was delivered by Paul de Beauregard (Düsseldorf), representative of the international law firm Jones Day.
During the lecture, main approaches to understanding human rights as individual rights that are universal, inalienable, and inherent were examined. The lecturer paid special attention to the historical development of the human rights concept – from early concepts of the sanctity of human life and humanism of the Renaissance to the ideas of the Enlightenment, liberalism, and natural rights concepts.
Within the lecture, modern sources of human rights were characterized, in particular the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights, and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Human rights were considered by main groups: personal integrity rights, freedom rights, political rights, as well as economic, social, and cultural rights.
A significant part of the lecture was devoted to the human rights protection system within the Council of Europe. The lecturer spoke about the Council of Europe, the geographical scope of the European Convention on Human Rights, its content and protocols, as well as the activities of the European Court of Human Rights. The procedure for applying to the ECHR and the Court’s practice were reviewed separately, including rulings in the case of Klimaseniorinnen.
Participants also learned about the protection system of fundamental rights in the European Union. The scope of application and content of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, other levels of human rights protection in the EU, specific EU directives, and the role of the Court of Justice of the European Union were discussed. The practical aspect of the topic was illustrated using the case of Egenberger v Germany.
The lecture became an opportunity for participants of the educational process to deepen their knowledge of European standards for protecting human rights and the specifics of their implementation within European legal systems.
