Postgraduate - UnitLAW5330 - International refugee law and practice

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 3, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Postgraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Law
Offered	Not offered in 2015

Synopsis

This course will examine the sources of international refugee law and the evolution of the international regime for refugee protection. It will discuss comparative implementation of the refugee definition in Europe and other jurisdictions; modification of the Refugees Convention in domestic legislation; restrictive concepts such as 'internal protection' and 'safe third country' and the development of 'complementary protection' for asylum-seekers. It will then address issues raised by regional responses and creation of 'burden sharing' arrangements between states; procedures for determination of refugee status and proposals to reformulate the refugee protection regime.

Outcomes

On completion of this unit students will be able to:

Apply knowledge and understanding of recent developments in relation to International Refugee Law and Practice with creativity and initiative to new situations in professional practice and/or for further learning;
Investigate, analyse and synthesise complex information, problems, concepts and theories in relation to International Refugee Law and Practice;
Conduct research in International Refugee Law and Practice based on knowledge of appropriate research principles and methods; and
Use cognitive, technical and creative skills to generate and evaluate at an abstract level complex ideas and concepts relevant to International Refugee Law and Practice.

Assessment

Research assignment (3,750 words): 50%
Examination (2 hours writing time plus 30 minutes reading and noting time): 50%

Workload requirements

36 contact hours per teaching period (either intensive, semi-intensive or semester long, depending on the Faculty resources, timetabling and requirements)

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Human rights law
International and comparative law