Gatekeepers to International Refugee Law? – The Role of Courts in Shaping Access to Asylum

ACCESS aims to analyze how domestic and supranational courts interpret the 1951 Refugee Convention in relation to state barriers to asylum, identifying patterns and socio-legal influences.

Subsidie
€ 1.499.788
2023

Projectdetails

Introduction

Pushbacks, walls, fences, detention measures, and externalization of asylum proceedings are the most widespread barriers that States around the globe implement to keep refugees out, and consequently prevent their access to international protection. In a global refugee context lacking an international court to interpret the 1951 Refugee Convention (RC), the burden of assessing the compatibility of these barriers with the RC lies on domestic and supranational courts.

Legal Context

These separate jurisdictions are interpreting the same treaty, are often presented with similar factual circumstances, and have a duty to uphold the rule of law. Yet, we do not know if courts around the globe have systematically yielded similar or different interpretations on the compatibility of State-developed barriers with the RC; and if common patterns have developed, whether or not they uphold those barriers in light of the RC.

Literature Gap

Despite these overarching problems, the literature has, so far, had a piecemeal approach; we thus lack an empirically driven socio-legal comparative analysis of the role of courts in interpreting the right to access asylum.

Project Overview

ACCESS will introduce an empirically driven theoretical model of how domestic and supranational courts develop international refugee law (IRL) and advance the executive-driven model of migration governance in response to State-developed barriers.

Research Questions

More specifically, we will investigate:

  1. How do judges apply the same legal treaty (RC) and related international norms in different political and socio-legal contexts?
  2. To what extent are there any discernible patterns in the courts’ decisions related to barriers to asylum (either restricting or expanding access to asylum)?
  3. What are the socio-legal factors influencing adjudication?
  4. How have courts developed IRL in response to these barriers?

Relevance

Given that we are faced with the highest displacement figures on record and the increasing barriers to asylum, ACCESS is of topical importance.

Financiële details & Tijdlijn

Financiële details

Subsidiebedrag€ 1.499.788
Totale projectbegroting€ 1.499.788

Tijdlijn

Startdatum1-11-2023
Einddatum31-10-2028
Subsidiejaar2023

Partners & Locaties

Projectpartners

  • ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - UNIVERSITA DI BOLOGNApenvoerder

Land(en)

Italy

Vergelijkbare projecten binnen European Research Council

ERC Advanced...

Building a Global Criminal Justice System at the Domestic Level

JOINEDUPJUSTICE aims to establish a coordinated global justice system by addressing the complexities of international criminal and refugee law, enhancing prosecution clarity and policy integration.

€ 2.332.184
ERC Starting...

Contested Knowledges in and through Asylum Litigation

ASYKNOW aims to explore the contested role of expert knowledge in asylum governance through comparative analysis of asylum litigation in Northern Europe, enhancing understanding of its impact on legal decision-making.

€ 1.500.000
ERC Advanced...

Global Migration Justice: Beyond conflicting approaches to migration in international human rights law

MIGJUST aims to reconcile conflicting migration legal frameworks by integrating European, Inter-American, African, and UN case law with diverse political theories on migration justice.

€ 2.499.812
ERC Advanced...

Global Resettlement Regimes: Ambivalent Lessons learned from the Postwar (1945-1951)

This project examines the interconnected global resettlement regimes of the 1940s-50s through legal history and Social GIS, aiming to inform contemporary discussions on refugee policies.

€ 2.159.469
ERC Consolid...

Solidarity, Sovereignty, and Sanctuary on the Seas: A Global History of Boat Refugees since the 1940s

This project investigates the historical and contemporary experiences of boat refugees, exploring solidarity, state responses, and the quest for sanctuary across different eras and regions.

€ 2.000.000