The Refugee Definition in International Law

In international law, the refugee definition enshrined in Article 1A(2) of the Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol is central. Yet, seven decades on, the meaning of its key terms are widely seen as unclear. The Refugee Definition in International Law asks whether we must continue to accept this or whether a systematic legal analysis can shed new light on this important term. The volume addresses several framework questions concerning approaches to definition, interpretation, ordering, and the interrelationship between the definition's different elements. Each element is then analysed in turn, applying Vienna Convention of the Law of Treaties rules in systematic fashion. Each chapter evaluates the main disputes that have arisen and seeks to distil basic propositions that are widely agreed, as well as certain suggested propositions for resolving ongoing debates. In the final chapter, the basic propositions are assembled to demonstrate that in fact there is now more clarity about the definition than many think and that considerable progress has been made toward achieving a working definition.

1 - The Refugee Definition
2 - Interpretation
3 - Approaches, Ordering, Interrelationships, Modalities
4 - Nationality and Statelessness
5 - 'Outside the Country...'
6 - 'Being Persecuted' and Serious Harm
7 - 'Being Persecuted' and Protection
8 - 'Being Persecuted' and the Internal Protection Alternative
9 - The Availment Clause: 'To Avail Himself of the Protection'
10 - Refugee Convention Reasons: 'For Reasons Of'
11 - 'Well-Founded Fear'
12 - Conclusions

Dr Hugo Storey, B.A. Hons (University of Sydney), B.Phil (Oxon), PhD (University of Leeds), is a recently retired judge of the Upper Tribunal (UK). He has published widely on human rights, refugee law, international law, and European law issues. He is one of the International Association of Refugee and Migration Judges' (IARMJ's) founding members and immediate past president of its European Chapter. He presently heads an IARMJ project with the European Union Asylum Agency (EUAA) (formerly EASO) which has overseen publication of 7 Judicial Analyses plus updates.