Guy S. Goodwin-Gill

Reviews the first 25 years of the IJRL, examines current problems and developments, and looks ahead.

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.

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.

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.

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'.

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.

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.

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.

This article looks back to the 1920s, and tries to tease out the politics of refugee protection as it evolved in the practice of States and international organizations in a period of growing ideological divide. The question addressed is whether the politics of protection at any particular moment are humanitarian or whether they serve primarily other purposes, in which the refugee is merely instrumental. It is unrealistic to imagine that the problem of refugees can ever be entirely non-political. What the history of the 1920–55 period confirms is the continued vitality of self-interest as a motivating factor in the responses of States to refugee flows. The international refugee regime that emerged in the late 1940s and early 1950s defined refugees through the politics of denunciation in a persecution-oriented definition that continues to limit and confuse, not only at the international operations level, but also in national asylum procedures. In this context, the article concludes that the art or UNHCR is not to allow solutions or assistance to have priority over protection. For if it cannot provide protection, it will be judged a failure and accountable, and not merely excused because it tried hard in difficult political circumstances.

This introductory chapter discusses the context in which developments in South Africa have taken place. It considers how the Security Council first took note of refugee movements from a 'Chapter VII perspective', before the events of September 2001; and it looks at some of the challenges for refugee protection at the national level.

This article lays out some of the international legal foundations governing the responsibility of States and international organizations when they undertake the processing of asylum seekers outside the country in which they are seeking refuge. It looks at the responsibility of States for conduct outside their territory; at the responsibility of international organizations, with particular reference to the protection of refugee rights; and at the responsibility of States for the conduct, acts and omissions of international organizations and of other States. It aims to show something of what international law does require, whenever a State elects to intercept or interdict asylum seekers, to transfer them to another State’s territory for ‘processing’, and to contract or engage the assistance of an international organization. Like many measures which a State may take in the grey, apparently unregulated areas of international law, off-shore processing is in fact subject to law, and subject to the rule of law; and so far too little recognition has been given to this and to the legal implications for both States and international organizations. The article concludes with a summary of relevant legal principles.

This chapter considers briefly how 'anti-terrorism' measures have prejudiced the security of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, challenged the rule of law in the United Kingdom, and incidentally raised questions concerning the democratic entitlement to govern.

Describes current aspects of the debate over immigration policy in national and international affairs.

Examines the background (travaux preparatoires) to the drafting of Article 31 of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, which provides for the non-penalization of certain refugees entering or present in a State party without authorization. Reviews the implementation of this provision in the practice of States.

A contribution to the "Berne Initiative", this chapter looks at the international law dimensions of forced migration, and at the constraints and options facing States.

Reviews international law relating to the rescue and subsequent treatment of asylum seekers in distress at sea; considers the legality of the Australian practice in relation to the MV Tampa, in light of earlier precedent and practice.

Revised text in English and German of lecture delivered in German in Zurich in December 2001. Examines the notion of tolerance as 'human right', with reference to refugee movements and the grant of asylum in its (recent) historical and modern dimensions.

Examines the future of asylum and the 1951 Convention/1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees

International law and refugees -- problems and challenges for the new millennium...

Examines proposed harmonisation measures in relation to asylum in the EU, with particular reference to its impact on individual rights and related international obligations.