The course will focus mainly on the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol, supplemented by additional materials that assist in the interpretation, construction and critique of these instruments. Particular attention will be paid to national implementation of refugee protection and status determination procedures in Australia, comparing and contrasting the approach taken, where appropriate, with that of other nations.
Addressed will be the origins of the international system of protection, its limitations and deficiencies; the role and relevance of UNHCR; definitional problems; exclusion and cessation of refugee status; core concepts of protection (including complementary protection), asylum, non-refoulement, penalization and refugee rights; asylum, temporary refuge, temporary protection and burden-sharing; durable solutions; protracted refugee situations; status determination procedures; detention; 'deflection' techniques; other categories such as 'environmental' refugees and internally displaced persons; and a consideration of possible future directions for refugee law.
Topics include:
• the conventional and customary law obligations of States in respect of refugees and other asylum-seekers and of the rights of applicants;
• the protection mechanisms, both national and international, that operate for the immediate and long-term protection of refuge-seekers and the policy considerations that affect contemporary State attitudes to such groups;
• the legal problems affecting national interpretations and application of refugee concepts, with particular emphasis on definitional problems, status determination procedures and non-refoulement; and
• the 'gaps' in international protection and the extent to which international law more broadly is able to address them.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
By the conclusion of this course, it is intended that students who have successfully completed all of the course requirements will be able to:- Analyse complex problems, concepts and theories in international refugee law and devise solutions appropriate to the specific context;
- Undertake critical legal research, legal writing and resolution of complex legal problems with an international or transnational dimension across a range of issues and topics in international refugee law;
- Research and write on the practice or theory of international refugee law including in-depth legal and policy research in the international refugee law field, as well as the implementation of refugee law domestically;
- Incorporate social, policy, comparative or interdisciplinary approaches into legal analysis of international and domestic refugee issues;
- Engage in original and critical reflection on international refugee law topics;
- Communicate legal, policy and theoretical perspectives of international refugee legal issues effectively, both verbally and in writing; and
- Structure, sustain and evaluate legal argument in international refugee law applying legal knowledge to complex international refugee legal problems in an analytical and creative manner.
Other Information
This is an intensive course with a 4 day compulsory intensive (see LLM timetable for dates).
Approximately 4 weeks from the completion of the intensive your final assessment will be due. Contact with fellow students and the convenor, both prior to the intensive and after, is conducted via the Wattle course site.
Indicative Assessment
Assessment is likely to consist of:- A class presentation or legal submission on behalf of a hypothetical claimant (20%)
- A written research assignment or law reform submission (65%, 4,500 words)
- One online quiz (15%).
Students must rely on the Course Study Guide which will be posted to the course Wattle site approximately four weeks prior to the commencement of the course.
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
26 hours of face to face teaching (4 day intensive). The course will also require advanced preparation through assigned readings. In total, it is anticipated that the hours required for completion this course (class preparation, teaching and completion of assessment) will not exceed 120 hours.Click here for the LLM Masters Program timetable
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
There is no prescribed text for this course.
Preliminary Reading
In view of the intensive nature of the course, it is highly desirable for you to do some preliminary reading for the first class.
- G Goodwin-Gill and J McAdam, The Refugee in International Law (Oxford University Press, 3rd ed, 2008) Ch1
- B.S. Chimni, 'The Geopolitics of Refugee Studies: A View from the South' (1998) 4 Journal of Refugee Studies 350
Students must rely on
the approved Course Study Guide which will be posted to the Wattle course site
approximately 4 weeks prior to the commencement of the course.
An e-brick will be available on the
Wattle course site.
Assumed Knowledge
Participants must have completed Principles of International Law (LAWS8182) or equivalent.Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 3
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees. Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2018 | $3660 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2018 | $5160 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
Spring Session
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9720 | 18 Oct 2018 | 18 Oct 2018 | 02 Nov 2018 | 07 Dec 2018 | In Person | N/A |