Jul12
How to Sink a Boat: A Legal Analysis of the Right to Seek Asylum
European Union, July 12, 2015
In a surprisingly bold move, the European Union (E.U.) recently asked the United Nations to green light the use of force against boats containing “smuggled” immigrants on the Mediterranean Sea. This disturbing news has been met with a wave of protest from advocates and scholars alike, who deplore the E.U.’s plan because it denies these immigrants their fundamental rights. Many have been left wondering, what is the legal basis for the E.U.’s actions? And could the United Nations conceivably approve such a plan?
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Jun3
Privacy and Impunity in South Africa
South Africa, June 3, 2015
On September 26, 2014 the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria handed down its decision in CoRMSA v President of the Republic of South Africa, upholding the grant of refugee status to former Rwandan general Faustin Kayumba Nywamwasa despite allegations of his involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity.
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Jun1
Refugee Protection for Homeschoolers? Congressional Efforts to Amend the Refugee Definition and Restrict Protection for Central American Refugees
United States, June 1, 2015
The U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee recently passed H.R.1153, the Asylum Reform and Border Protection Act of 2015 (“the ARBP Act”), a bill that restricts immigration to the United States, except for families fleeing persecution because they homeschool their children. This article discusses the ways in which the proposed Act is in direct contravention with U.S. domestic and international obligations and argues Congress should instead invest in the asylum officer corps and immigration court system to provide adjudicators with the resources and support they need to reach reasoned and fair decisions.
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May12
Syrian Asylum Seekers Face Difficulties in Japan
Japan, May 12, 2015
Recently, four Syrian asylum seekers have decided to sue the government of Japan for its failure to recognize their claims for refugee status. This litigation move comes amid reports published by the Ministry of Justice, which states that Japan recognized only six asylum seekers in 2013 and only 11 in 2014, despite a clear upward trend in the number of asylum applications.
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May12
The Michigan Guidelines on Risk for Reasons of Political Opinion
May 12, 2015
The University of Michigan Program in Refugee and Asylum Law hosts the bi-annual Colloquium on Challenges in International Refugee Law, which brings leading academic experts and practitioners from around the world to Ann Arbor to work with students and identify a strategy for confronting a cutting-edge problem in refugee protection. The purpose of the Colloquium is to tackle one difficult issue via preparatory study and a three-day debate and policy formulation meeting, thus producing the Michigan Guidelines on that particular issue. The 2015 Michigan Guidelines take up how best to interpret “political opinion” in a manner that ensures both fidelity to international law and the continuing vitality of the Convention.
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Apr14
Vulnerability, the Right to Asylum and the Dublin System
European Union, April 14, 2015
Recent jurisprudence from the European Court of Human Rights has called into question the compatibility of the Dublin system with the rights of inherently vulnerable individuals, in particular children seeking asylum.
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Mar9
Of Shepherds and Sheepdogs – Andre Lawrence Shepherd v. Bundesrepublik Deutschland before the Court of Justice of the European Union
Germany, March 9, 2015
An American citizen applied for asylum in Germany on the basis of Article 9(2)(e) of the Qualification Directive (QD). He refused to continue working in the US armed forces serving in Iraq, claiming his continued participation would lead to the commission of war crimes. The referring court stayed proceedings and asked the CJEU to help interpret the act of persecution contained in Article 9(2)(e). In this article, Julian Lehmann dissects the CJEU's opinion and predicts the outcome in Mr. Shepherd's case.
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Mar2
“The Benefit of the Doubt” in Asylum Law
United Kingdom , March 2, 2015
"The benefit of the doubt" is best understood, not as an independent principle to be ranked alongside the lower standard of proof, but rather as an integral part of such a standard.
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Mar1
Forced Removals to Somalia Continue in the Netherlands
THE NETHERLANDS, March 1, 2015
On February 3, 2015 the highest administrative court in the Netherlands—the Dutch Council of State—handed down its judgment in a case concerning the lawfulness of an asylum seeker’s detention pending removal to Somalia.
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Feb4
Establishing a Common European Asylum System by Leaving European Human Rights Standards Behind: Is this the Way Forward?
European Union, February 4, 2015
Things have definitely come to a head between the two European Courts, and for the time being, reconciliation is nowhere in sight [...] Should push come to shove, and national authorities be placed before a real dilemma between respecting EU Law or respecting ECHR Law, the ECJ might find that its judicial policy is not conducive to the authority and uniform application of EU Law [...] The irony is that, in following its perilous course, the ECJ is striving to place the Union’s AFSJ and CEAS on solid foundations. In fact, it is undermining them, along with human rights protection in the EU and beyond. Consider this: should the NS test eventually supplant the Soering test in the operation of the Dublin system, the ECJ will effectively have built a “systemic deficiency” – a rule producing serial violations of the prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment.
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