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An extensive updated collection of key documents covering all elements of the subject, plus commentary and bibliographic annotation. Organized by reference to UN instruments, UN sponsored conventions, ILO, UNESCO, and regional instruments.

ISBN: 978-0-19-956404-0

Does the individual have a right to be granted asylum? The traditional answer has long been 'No', any right being that of the State to grant or not to grant. This chapter argues that there is indeed an obligation to grant asylum, drawing among others on elementary considerations of humanity and human rights obligations owed erga omnes. I argue further that this has legal and policy implications, in particular, for the EU, the Court of Justice, the Strasbourg Court, and States.

ISBN: 978-2-8027-3602-8

Reviews legal and institutional developments relating to child soldiers since publication of the author's initial study in 1994. Considers recent prosecutions of those accused of recuiting and using children in armed conflict, and examines the situation of child soldiers who may themselves have committed war crimes.

ISBN: 978-0-19-959673-7

This chapter examines when and how the principles of State responsibility can be translated into liability violations of human rights. It reviews actual and potential gaps in the law, considers jurisprudence and practice with reference to the concepts of territory and jurisdiction, and argues that in this context, 'jurisdiction' should be interpreted to include 'enforcement or prerogative jurisdiction'.

ISBN: 978-90-04017714-7

State authority and power have become diffused in an increasingly globalized world characterized by the freer trans-border movement of people, objects and ideas. As a result, some international law scholars believe that a new world order is emerging based on a complex web of transnational networks. Such a transnational legal order requires sufficient dialogue between national courts. This book explores the prospects for such an order in the context of refugee law in Europe, focusing on the use of foreign law in refugee cases. Judicial practice is critically analysed in nine EU member states, with case studies revealing a mix of rational and cultural factors that lead judges rarely to use each other’s decisions within the EU. Conclusions are drawn for the prospects of a Common European Asylum System and for international refugee law.

ISBN: 978-0-521-19820-2

Reviews current interception practices, particularly as conducted by EU Member States and the EU agency, Frontex, and considers the lawfulness of such operations in the light of EU law, the recent jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, and the international law background, including the right to seek asylum and the principle of non-refoulement.

The 1951 Convention and its 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees now have 147 States parties, and consistent interpretation across multiple jurisdictions is clearly a desirable goal. This task falls almost exclusively on national courts, but in the absence of an international review body, each State must determine the scope of its own obligations. Within the EU, a common asylum policy and common approaches to the refugee definition are very much part of the agenda, and jurisprudence under the Qualification Directive is already beginning to emerge. UK courts have focused principally on Article 1 of the Convention – the refugee definition – and this chapter looks at that practice, and at the methodology employed. Although the courts readily accept and use the rules of interpretation set out in the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, their approach still lacks consistency, particularly when faced with obscurity or the challenges of a ‘living instrument’. Also, they are uncertain what weight to give to the views of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and how those views fit within the scheme of interpretation is not always clear.

ISBN: 978-0-521-19820-2