International
Human Rights Law in Refugee Status Determination: Comparative Practice and Theory
Venue:
Institute of Advanced Legal Studies
Date: London, 13-14 November 2013
Dear Colleagues,
We write to
share news of the forthcoming conference on ‘International Human Rights Law in
Refugee Status Determination: Comparative Practice and Theory’ that will take
place at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, London, on 13 and 14 November
2013.
This 1½ day
conference brings together leading experts to reflect comparatively on the
practical and theoretical impact of international human rights law upon refugee
status determination. Three panels will explore comparative practice from
around the world and one will be addressed to broader cross-cutting thematic
issues. Some further details can be found in the outline below.
For the final
thematic panel, we are keen to receive additional contributions, particularly
on the following broad topics and their implications for our understanding of
the scope of refugee definitions: sexual and gender identity; combatants and
military service; permissible limitations to rights (such as the freedom to
manifest one’s religion); and internal protection/flight alternative.
If you wish to
propose a paper to be presented on this panel, please submit a short abstract
of up to 300 words to bruce.burson@justice.govt.nz and david.cantor@sas.ac.uk by Friday **5 July 2013**.
Please note
that presenters will be asked to submit a draft paper of 5 000-8 000 words by 1
November 2013 to enable paper-sharing in advance among the participants. Local
accommodation will be offered to selected presenters, as well as a contribution
towards economy travel expenses of up to £50 (UK), £150 (Europe), £500 (World).
After the event, revised papers will be submitted to Martinus Nijhoff for
publication in an edited collection.
The conference is organised by the Refugee Law Initiative,
University of London, jointly with the Centre for Refugee Studies (York,
Canada), Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program (Harvard, USA),
International Refugee and Migration Law Project (UNSW, Australia), International
Refugee Law Research Programme (Melbourne, Australia) and other institutions,
and includes papers by prominent academics and practitioners.
Registration
for the conference will be opened shortly. If you are interested in
participating other than as a presenter, please email the convenors so that we
can keep you informed.
We look forward
to hearing from you.
Kind regards,
Bruce Burson
New Zealand
Immigration and Protection Tribunal
David James
Cantor
Refugee Law
Initiative, School of Advanced Study, University of London
CONFERENCE
OUTLINE:
International
Human Rights Law in Refugee Status Determination:
Comparative
Practice and Theory
International
Conference
London, 13-14
November 2013
International
human rights law (IHRL) has assumed an increasingly important role in refugee
status determination (RSD) over the past twenty years. At the same time, the
legal consequences of this interaction remain a source of considerable
contention. Whilst much of the debate has taken place in abstract and general
terms, the conference seeks to shift the focus to a detailed comparative
analysis of how this relationship is configured by different jurisdictions in
practice.
The simple fact
that RSD takes place within a wide range of different jurisdictional contexts
requires a new point of departure. Indeed, these express a vast variance based,
inter alia, on the refugee and IHRL instruments ratified by the country,
the ways in which these have been incorporated into domestic law, the
interpretation of these instruments through the lens of local legal cultures,
and the differing nature of RSD procedures internationally. The conference will
provide an important new perspective on the divergent ways that such factors
have moulded the relationship between IHRL and refugee law at the level of
national RSD practice.
As well as
generating important new practical understandings of RSD, the resulting
analysis will feed back into wider theoretical debates about the influence of
IHRL in RSD. For instance, the obviously uneven cross-jurisdictional terrain
raises serious questions about the capacity of IHRL to cohesively shape RSD at
the international level. Questions about transnational processes of borrowing
between different jurisdictions also arise. Whether IHRL should be used to
interpret refugee law and, if so, in which of its components, is also an
important issue.
Broad questions
to be addressed from both theoretical and comparative perspectives include:
1. Does IHRL
influence RSD in practice at the national level? If so, what are the key
factors that determine the degree and nature of such influence?
2. Are there
particular areas of refugee law interpretation where the influence of IHRL is
especially pronounced in national practice?
3. Has the IHRL
influence on RSD – and refugee law - been broadly positive or negative?
4. Does IHRL
facilitate the convergence of RSD processes at the international level?
The conference provides the opportunity both for a stock-taking of
transnational developments over the past twenty years and for the
identification of future challenges. Given the scope of the material, it will
be of interest to lawyers, judges, practitioners and scholars in the areas of
refugee, human rights and EU law, as well as humanitarian workers and
academics, government authorities, policy researchers and students.
If you wish to propose a paper to be presented on this
panel, please submit a short abstract of up to 300 words to bruce.burson@justice.govt.nz
and david.cantor@sas.ac.uk by
Friday **5 July 2013**.
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