The Law of Refugee Status

The first edition of The Law of Refugee Status (published in 1991) is generally regarded as the seminal text on interpreting the refugee definition set by the UN's 1951 Refugee Convention. Its groundbreaking analysis served as the bedrock for not only much judicial reasoning, but also for a burgeoning academic literature in law and related fields. This second edition builds on the strong critical focus and human rights orientation of the first edition, but undertakes an entirely original analysis of the jurisprudence of leading common law and select civil law states. The authors provide robust responses to the most difficult questions of refugee status in a clear and direct way. The result is a comprehensive and truly global analysis of the central question in asylum law: who is a refugee?

Table of Contents:
1. Alienage; 2. Well-founded fear; 3. Serious harm; 4. Failure of state protection; 5. Nexus to civil or political status; 6. Persons no longer needing protection; 7. Persons not deserving protection.

About the Author :
James C. Hathaway is the James E. and Sarah A. Degan Professor of Law at the University of Michigan, USA, a Distinguished Visiting Professor of International Refugee Law at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and a Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Michelle Foster is an Associate Professor and Director of the International Refugee Law Research Programme in the Institute for International Law and the Humanities at Melbourne Law School.

Review :
'… a major event … The long wait is over, and all working or studying in this area of law can begin to use and benefit from this book's many insights, and to mine the rich seams of source materials contained in its footnotes.' Hugo Storey, International Journal of Refugee Law 'As with the first edition, and with acuity rare in the world of academic writing, the text displays an uncanny knack of identifying the really important issues of the era, before providing insightful analysis that simply demands attention from any serious advocate or principled decision maker.' Mark Symes, freemovement.org.uk '… this book is bound to become an authoritative reference on the law relative to the determination of refugee status on the basis of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees ('Refugee Convention').' Benoit Mayer, Chinese Journal of International Law 'For practitioners it is invaluable in that The Law of Refugee Status offers a comprehensive normative framework for interpreting the refugee definition through the prism of case law. This is, in a way, the book's most unique characteristic. While not only useful as a reference tool, it also represents the authors' synthesis of a complex and vast body of jurisprudence that has developed to respond to everevolving social realities and legal contexts in which refugees find themselves.' Radha Govil and Alexandra McDowa, Australian Year Book of International Law