Refugees, Asylum Seekers and the Law: Rights and Realities (LAWS7714)

Course overview

This course critically examines international and regional laws (treaties and case-law), and domestic policies and laws (legislation and case-law) and politics, relating to forced migration. Study will focus on both historical and contemporary refugee law and practice in Australia in light of international refugee law, and international human rights law in particular. The transplantation of those international norms into domestic law via the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) (and key cases interpreting and applying those laws) will be carefully and critically analysed. Attention will also focus on the key challenges to refugee protection raised by contemporary Australian practices, especially in respect of asylum seekers arriving irregularly by sea; including mandatory detention, offshore (regional) processing and temporary protection. The course will encourage students to incorporate comparative and/or interdisciplinary perspectives into their legal analyses of international law and domestic law and practice.

This course explores and analyses the key legal instruments governing refugee protection, including the 1951 Refugees Convention/Protocol and international human rights treaties, such as the UN Convention Against Torture. The course will carefully and criticallyﾠexamineﾠthese principles and how they are given effect in domestic law and practices, includingﾠAustralia, USﾠand the EU.

Contemporary practices applied by Western states to tackle irregular migration will be critically examined, including extra-territorial practices such as interdiction at sea andﾠoffshore processing in third countries. Pressing socio-legal issues will be unpacked and carefully analysed, including the use of administrative (or, civil) detention for prolonged and indefinite periods, and the convergence of criminal law and immigration law (crimmigration) and how the regulation of 'risky' refugees and asylum seekers is impacting on their substantive and procedural rights. Finally, we will examine critical issues arounds access to justice (to merits review and judicial review) for asylum seekers and the many challenges of refugee status determination.

Course requirements

Restrictions

LLM; LLM(Adv); LLM(16), LLM(24); MICLaw; GCIR; MIR(16); MIR(24); MIR(32), MIL, MIR/MIL Quota: minimum of 12 enrolments

Course contact

Course staff

Timetable

The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.

Aims and outcomes

Teaching Mission Statement

The mission of the TC Beirne School of Law is to educate students in and about the law. We seek to assist you to think critically about the law and to investigate its structures, principles, policies, and values. This is achieved by engaging with you as fellow investigators in a range of critical and intellectual conversations about the law and its place in society. Our role is thus to guide you in your own intellectual journey in the law and to equip you with the necessary skills that will enable you to continue that journey long after you have left the School.

Course Aims

The course is designed to give students a comprehensive and critical understanding of international refugee law, related human rights law,ﾠand key aspects of Australia’s domestic laws governingﾠimmigration and relevant international comparators.

The seminarsﾠinvite and enableﾠstudents to critically reflect on the nature of immigration, asylumﾠand refugee law, and understand the rationale of international, regional and domestic policies in this area. Moreover, the course seeks to develop and improve stude

Learning outcomes

After successfully completing this course you should be able to:

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment details

Essay - Who is a refugee?

• Online

Mode

Written

Category

Essay/ Critique

Weight

40%

Due date

12/09/2024 2:00 pm

Learning outcomes

L01, L02, L07

Task description

Submission guidelines

Assignments must be submitted electronically via the online assessment submission link on the course Blackboard site.

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

The maximum extension allowed is 7 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.

Extension to Assessment Due Date

An extension for an assessment item due within the teaching period in which the course is offered will generally be limited to one week in the first instance. In exceptional circumstances, approved extensions may be granted for more than one week but will not exceed four weeks in total. Where a student is incapacitated for a period exceeding four weeks of the teaching period, they should be advised to apply for removal of course.

A student may apply for an extension to assessment due date if they are unable to meet an assessment deadline due to extenuating circumstances. Please refer to the Applying for an extension page on my.UQ for further details on acceptable reasons for an extension and for instructions on how to apply. Additional information on extensions can be found within the Assessment Procedure .

Spoken or written notification of difficulties with assessment deadlines to a course coordinator or the School does not constitute an authorised extension.

Applications to be submitted before the due date: Applications for extension (whether they be medical or exceptional circumstances) shall be made by the due date and time for the assessment. Requests for extensions received after the assessment item submission due date and time, must include evidence of the reason for the late request, and will require the decision maker listed in the Student Grievance Resolution Procedure to accept the request for consideration.

Late submission

A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.

Penalties for Late Submission

The following penalties apply to late submission of an assessment item, assuming that an extension has not been approved, and that late submission is academically possible (e.g., it does not delay feedback to a cohort, or interfere with course delivery).

First 7 periods of 24 hours (or part thereof) - 10% per 24 hours of the maximum possible mark for the assessment item. For example, a report worth a maximum of 40 marks, submitted 28 hours late will attract a penalty of 8 marks, calculated as 2 periods of 24 hours x 10% x 40 marks.

More than 7 periods of 24 hours - 100%.

Essay - Access to refugee protection and durable solutions

• Online

Mode

Written

Category

Essay/ Critique

Weight

60%

Due date

12/11/2024 2:00 pm

Learning outcomes

L01, L03, L04, L05, L06, L07

Task description

Submission guidelines

Assignments must be submitted electronically via the online assessment submission link on the course Blackboard site.

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

The maximum extension allowed is 7 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.

Extension to Assessment Due Date

An extension for an assessment item due within the teaching period in which the course is offered will generally be limited to one week in the first instance. In exceptional circumstances, approved extensions may be granted for more than one week but will not exceed four weeks in total. Where a student is incapacitated for a period exceeding four weeks of the teaching period, they should be advised to apply for removal of course.

A student may apply for an extension to assessment due date if they are unable to meet an assessment deadline due to extenuating circumstances. Please refer to the Applying for an extension page on my.UQ for further details on acceptable reasons for an extension and for instructions on how to apply. Additional information on extensions can be found within the Assessment Procedure .

Spoken or written notification of difficulties with assessment deadlines to a course coordinator or the School does not constitute an authorised extension.

Applications to be submitted before the due date: Applications for extension (whether they be medical or exceptional circumstances) shall be made by the due date and time for the assessment. Requests for extensions received after the assessment item submission due date and time, must include evidence of the reason for the late request, and will require the decision maker listed in the Student Grievance Resolution Procedure to accept the request for consideration.

Late submission

A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.

Penalties for Late Submission

The following penalties apply to late submission of an assessment item, assuming that an extension has not been approved, and that late submission is academically possible (e.g., it does not delay feedback to a cohort, or interfere with course delivery).

First 7 periods of 24 hours (or part thereof) - 10% per 24 hours of the maximum possible mark for the assessment item. For example, a report worth a maximum of 40 marks, submitted 28 hours late will attract a penalty of 8 marks, calculated as 2 periods of 24 hours x 10% x 40 marks.

More than 7 periods of 24 hours - 100%.

Course grading

Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.

Additional course grading information

An assessment rubric will be circulated along with the assessment that provide a framework which clarifies the assessment requirements and the standards of performance for different grade bands.

Supplementary assessment

Supplementary assessment is available for this course.

Learning resources

You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.

Library resources

Find the required and recommended resources for this course on the UQ Library website.

Additional learning resources information

Wherever possible students will be directed to resources (including treaties, legislation, cases, journal articles and book chapters) that are available digitally via the course Blackboard site, or via the law library catalogue or social sciences library catalogue.

Learning activities

The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.

Policies and procedures

University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:

• Student Code of Conduct Policy
• Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Procedure
• Assessment Procedure
• Examinations Procedure
• Reasonable Adjustments - Students Policy and Procedure

Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.

School guidelines

Your school has additional guidelines you'll need to follow for this course:

• Law School Announcements and Policies