LWMIRL: International Refugee Law

Module code: LWMIRL

Module provider: School of Law

Credits: 20

Level: Postgraduate Masters

When you'll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Dr Ruvi Ziegler, email: r.ziegler@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: No

Last updated: 21 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This module explores a major area of public international law that regulates a (limited) exception to the principles of state sovereignty and migration control. The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees concerns the protection of persons who have crossed an international border and are outside their state of origin owing to a well-founded fear of persecution in that state for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion. Global debates continue regarding the nature of the protection that refugees should be granted, the role of the international community, and the obligations of states of asylum. The module will provide students with a critical understanding of the international regime of refugee protection by highlighting its virtues and shortcomings. The first session will explore the history, structure, and aims of the 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. Subsequently, the module considers criteria for the attainment (‘inclusion’), exclusion from, and cessation of refugee status; the non-refoulement principle; complementary and subsidiary protection regimes; challenges arising in the context of displacement from conflict; and a case-study of the treatment of African asylum-seekers in Israel. The module concludes by appraising the limits of the international refugee protection. 

Aims: 
The module examines international refugee law through abstract assessment of the law itself, but also through detailed assessment of real world examples that highlight the law (including its possible shortcomings) in practice. The aim is for students to gain a detailed substantive understanding of contemporary international refugee law, but also to understand both its value and limitations in practice. In addition, the module aims to provide some theoretical underpinning to this substantive knowledge and to question, amongst other things, the policy implications of the balance that is struck in contemporary international law between national sovereignty and the protection of ‘convention refugees’ (as well as other forced migrants). 

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to: 

1. Draw upon a body of detailed substantive knowledge gained through both class participation and self-study, and apply this to contemporary dilemmas arising in the refugee field in an assessed piece of written work. 
2. Demonstrate a solid understanding of the institutional, procedural and substantive aspects of the international refugee law system, as well as its location in the international legal order. 
3. Demonstrate an ability to set the substantive law content of the module in a wider context, both legal and non-legal. 
4. Critically evaluate the protection offered by international refugee law, its virtues and shortcomings. 

Module content

The module will cover topics such as: 

• International global framework for refugee protection 
• Refugee Status Determination: inclusion 
• The refugee definition and its interpretation: gender and sexual orientation 
• Refugee Status Determination: exclusion  
• Cessation of refugee status and precarity 
• Non-refoulement, interdiction at sea, and externalisation 
• Refugee protection in the ‘Global South’ 
• Country case-studies (based on current events) 
• The outer reach of refugee law 

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching in this module is designed to provide students with a range of resources on which they can draw in their learning. The main elements are: 

• A list of required and recommended readings, with notes and questions that will be used to guide class discussion and reflection. 
• Ten weekly seminar classes of 2 hours each which will include expert guests/ performances 
• Students will prepare a 10 - 15 minute ‘case-study’ presentation on a case where a question relating to the refugee protection regime has arisen. Formative feedback will be provided in writing following this presentation.  
• Where there are School of Law seminars relevant to the area then students in the module will be encouraged to attend and will be given the opportunity to discuss the issues with visiting academics. 

Study hours

At least 26 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 50% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Small group joint discussion (up to 3 pages): summary of arguments on a topic chosen by the lecturer prepared jointly by two/three students.

Reassessment

Additional costs