Admission requirements
Required course(s):
- Principles of Public International Law
Recommended course(s):
International and Regional Human Rights
Sovereignty and Statehood
Description
This course covers the core issues in international refugee law (IRL) and international human rights law (IHRL) that define the scope of international protection. It focuses on the definition of a refugee under the 1951 Refugee Convention and regional instruments, as well as on the role of human rights law in offering protection to refugees and other ‘forced migrants’ and displaced persons.
Besides addressing the international and regional legal systems of protection of refugees and other displaced persons, the course addresses current problems in refugee protection. Thereby the course combines the insights of feminist and queer theories and the theory of political economy to provide a critical and interdisciplinary foundation for discussing issues of extraterritoriality, privatization of refugee protection, special elements of protection of female and queer refugees and other issues overlooked by mainstream approaches.
The course thus aims to provide students with a critical understanding of the content, workings and shortcomings of international legal responses to refugees, so that by the end of the course, you will have an understanding of both the potential, and the limits, of international refugee law.
Course Objectives
Knowledge:
comprehensive grounding in the law on international protection
Awareness of current policies addressing international forced migration and their contestations from the legal perspective
Insights of critical social theories (feminist, queer, and political economy) with implications to legal and policy approaches to refugee protection
Skills:
Ability to apply international legal framework for refugee protection to concrete cases
Analyzing complex legal problems within refugee protection and apply relevant legal rules and principles to identified relevant facts
Ability to argue about contested questions of refugee protection through the synthesis of the legal/policy frameworks with relevant socio-theoretical critical theories
Timetable
Timetables for courses offered at Leiden University College in 2023-2024 will be published on this page of the e-Prospectus.
Mode of instruction
Two sessions per week (2 hours per session, weeks 1-7) will form the main body of the course. In the span of multiple weeks, the taught sessions will be complemented by student-led education based on group presentations addressing particular topics.
Students are required to take active part in class discussions.
Assessment Method
In class participation – 11%
Group presentations – 19% (multiple weeks)
Midterm problem question-based exam – 25% (Week 4)
Final essay – 45% (Due week 8)
Reading list
The reading list will be published in the syllabus in due time. No core textbook is needed for this course.
Registration
Courses offered at Leiden University College (LUC) are usually only open to LUC students and LUC exchange students. Leiden University students who participate in one of the university’s Honours tracks or programmes may register for one LUC course, if availability permits. Registration is coordinated by the Education Coordinator, course.administration@luc.leidenuniv.nl.
Contact
Dr. Nicole Stybnarova, n.stybnarova@luc.leidenuniv.nl
Remarks
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