JUS5530 - Refugee and Asylum Law
Course content
This course seeks to present the international legal framework for refugee and asylum issues and assess its evolution. The course will not concentrate on the asylum laws of one country in particular, rather the approach is multinational in order to provide an overview of the commonalities and conflicts within the world system. Students will attain a thorough knowledge of the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (1951), as well as the principal regional conventions.
Main areas of discussion include the basic U.N. criteria for the attainment, denial, and withdrawal of refugee status, the development of the non-refoulement principle, and the standard of treatment of refugees. The political, social, and economic context of prevention, protection, and solution strategies will be explored. Close study of jurisprudence within international, regional, and national courts and UNHCR actions will provide an understanding of how refugee and asylum law is interpreted and implemented. In addition, the course will analyse the drawbacks and benefits of alternative forms of protection, e.g. temporary protection and safe haven.
Progressive issues such as internally displaced persons and "development/environmental" refugees will also be presented. Trends towards expansion of the refugee definition will be assessed by studying regional approaches within Africa, Latin America, and Europe.
Learning outcome
Students will learn how to conduct a refugee status determination
pursuant to the definition of a refugee contained within the 1951
Convention on the Status of Refugees and regional instruments. The principal aspects of inclusion, exclusion, cessation and non-refoulement criteria will be addressed. Students will be expected to demonstrate critical thinking in evaluating the reasoning and conclusions of national and international judges contained in case law.
Admission
Id does not exist in shared textYou may register for this course if you have admission to a Master’s programme at UiO or the faculty's exchange programme. You can also register for this course if you do not have admission to any programme at UiO, but meet the formal prerequistites.
All students are required meet the formal prerequistites.
Have you met the formal prerequisites at another institution than the University of Oslo, and the results are not formally registered at UiO, you must apply for admission to courses at Master’s level . Students with admission to Master’s degree programmes at other faculties than The Faculty of Law must also apply for admission.
When your admission is in order you must register for courses in StudentWeb
Id does not exist in shared textPrerequisites
Formal prerequisite knowledge
Students must fill one of these requirements:
- Passed 1st - 3rd year of studies in Master's of Law (masterstudiet i rettsvitenskap at UiO) or examinations that qualify for exemption from these) or
- Having a 5-years Master’s degree in Laws (masterstudiet i rettsvitenskap at UiO) or equivalent.
Students with admission to the faculty’s exchange programme and students with admission to any master’s degree programme at the University of Oslo (except masterstudiet i rettsvitenskap) has an exemption from the formal prerequisites.
Recommended previous knowledge
Three years of law studies.
Overlapping courses
10 credits overlap with JUR1530 - Refugee and Asylum Law (BA), 10 credits overlap with VALFLYKT - Flyktninge- og asylrett (discontinued), 10 credits overlap with JUXFLYKT - Flyktninge- og asylrett (discontinued), 10 credits overlap with JUTREFAS - Refugee and Asylum Law (discontinued), 10 credits overlap with PILREFAS - Refugee and Asylum Law (discontinued), 10 credits overlap with JUVOFLYKT and 10 credits overlap with JUR5530 - Refugee and Asylum Law (discontinued).Teaching
Lectures/seminars.
Language of teaching for this course is English. This means that all
communication during lectures/seminars will be in English, and all
literature and auxiliary materials are in English.
Access to teaching
Id does not exist in shared textExamination
4 hour written examination.
Examination support material
Id does not exist in shared textRegulations for support materials permitted at examination for courses taught in English . Please read all three chapters.
Language of examination
Id does not exist in shared textThe language of examination for this course is English. This means
that the examination question will be given in English, and students
may answer in English only.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.
Explanations and appeals
You may request an explanation of your grades, and you may also appeal against your grades or make a complaint about formal examination errors. Read more about explanations and appeals.
Resit an examination
You can usually resit an exam, but the conditions depend on whether you had a valid reason for absence from the regular exam. Read more about resitting an exam.
Withdrawal from an examination
Id does not exist in shared textA student can sit for this exam up to 3 times. If a student wishes to withdraw from the exam, s/he must do this in StudentWeb at least
two weeks prior to the first day of the exam. Failure to do so will be counted as one of the three opportunities to sit for the exam.
A study programme may have rules that further limit the number of times a student may re-take this exam. In such instances the rules of the study programme will have priority.
Special examination arrangements
If you have a disability or a health problem that entails significant inconvenience in an examination situation, you may be considered for special examination arrangements. Mothers who are breastfeeding may apply for extra time to complete the exam.
Please se Detailed regulations for the Faculty of Law, Chapter 3 regarding application, responsibilities and special measures.
Evaluation
Feedback from our students is essential to us in our efforts to ensure and further improve the high quality of our programmes and courses. All courses are subject to continuous evaluation. At regular intervals we also ask students on a particular course to participate in a more comprehensive, periodic evaluation of this course.
Other
The language for this course is English. Students enrolled in the
Masterprogrammet i rettsvitenskap must pass one
English subject as part of their degree, this course will meet these
obligations.
This subject is taught at Master 's level. The subject is also taught at Bachelor's level (15 ECTS credits), see JUR1530 - Refugee and Asylum Law (BA).
Please see the chapter above, regarding overlap. For instances of overlap, credits will be deducted on the subject at Bachelors's level.