Steven Greer, Professor of Human Rights, has been appointed Visiting Professor, to teach a course entitled ‘The European human rights protection system’, at the International Institute of Human Rights’ 42nd annual summer Study Session to be held in Strasbourg in July 2011. The Institute was founded in 1969 by a group of human rights activists including René Cassin (1887-1976), President of the European Court of Human Rights from 1965 to 1968, and also winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1968 on the 20th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of which he was one of the principal authors. In 1994 the IIHR received the UNESCO Prize for human rights teaching.

The Institute’s annual summer Study Sessions enable advanced level students of law, political, human and social science, together  with young university teachers and researchers, members of the legal professions, national and international civil servants, and members of NGOs to learn about, or deepen their understanding of, human rights. In 2010 the 41st Study Session was attended by 263 participants from 70 countries. The theme of the 42nd Session is: ‘The effectiveness of the international protection of social rights’.

Professor Greer has taught, lectured and presented papers in many countries around the world. He has also published widely in the human rights and other fields. His most recent book, The European Convention on Human Rights: Achievements, Problems and Prospects (Cambridge University Press, 2006), was short-listed with two other titles for the Hart Socio-Legal Book Prize 2008, and his current research projects include a study of the European Court of Human Rights with Professor Luzius Wildhaber, the Court’s former President.