The Global Reach of European Refugee Law

Description

Europe has the most advanced regional protection regime in the world. The predicted impact of this body of norms, including the new Common European Asylum System, has been widely identified as one that will have a 'ripple effect' beyond the EU. However, very few studies have noted the fact that this regime has already influenced the law and practice of states around the world, for some time. The purpose of this book is to gather evidence that emulation is happening (if it is), to explore the extent and identify the processes through which it is happening, and to examine the implications of these findings. A review of seven case studies reveals all but one of these cases provides clear evidence of emulation at some point in time. The EU protection regime, which has been most influenced by the European Court of Human Rights, is 'naturally' evolving transnationally and spreading internationally. Cover Contents Notes on contributors and editors Acknowledgements Abbreviations 1 Introduction: European refugee law and transnational emulation A Worldwide emulation of Europe: drivers and facilitators B Key trends in European refugee law 1 Processes of securitization 2 Improved standards of refugee protection? 3 Exceptions and derogations to established international standards 4 Europe’s unique double-judicial check C Structure of the book 2 Migrating laws? The ‘plagiaristic dialogue’ between Europe and Australia A Introduction B Safe third countries 1 Legislative framework 2 Judicial consideration C Regional protection and offshore processing 1 Regional processing centres 2 Transfer arrangements 3 A regional legal framework: transplanting the EU model? D Eurodac E Complementary protection F Processes of influence 1 Case law 2 Immigration Department 3 Development of legislation and policy 4 Personal connections/observations G Conclusion 3 European influence on asylum practices in Latin America: accelerated procedures in Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela A European influence on Latin America 1 European antecedents to political asylum in Latin America 2 Latin America’s reaction to ‘European’ refugee law 3 Spain as a model for refugee status determination procedures in Latin America B Accelerated procedures and Europe 1 The global framework of the UNHCR Executive Committee 2 European practice as the basis for the UNHCR framework C Latin American emulation of European accelerated procedures 1 Accelerated procedures in the Andes and Central America 2 Drivers for change (a) Upsurge in Colombian refugees (b) Flows of extracontinentales 3 Factors facilitating emulation of Europe (a) Spain as a European model of deterrence (b) UNHCR as a mediating agency D Conclusion: future prospects Appendix Interview list Colombia Ecuador Panama Venezuela 4 A safe country to emulate? Canada and the European refugee A Introduction B Roma asylum seekers in Canada C Keeping Roma out, take 1: the institutional response D Keeping Roma out, take 2: jurisprudential imagination E Keeping Roma out, take 3: safe country of origin F Safe country of origin: Canada and the Procedures Directive compared G Conclusion H Postscript 5 Between East and West: the case of Israel A Introduction B Background to Israel’s asylum regime C Israeli asylum determination D Political drivers E Case law and the judiciary: facilitating change? F The transformative effect of discourse G The role of civil society H Conclusion 6 Is Switzerland an EU Member State? Asylum law harmonization through the backdoor A Introduction B The Dublin Association Agreement: the Trojan horse of European harmonization in Switzerland 1 Rationale of the Dublin Association: the fear of becoming the asylum country of last resort 2 Behind the Dublin mechanism: a case of normative mimicry C Interpreting the refugee definition: a bottom-up harmonization 1 Actors of persecution: the domino effect of the Qualification Directive 2 Effective protection: the ripple effect of the protection approach 3 The internal flight alternative: towards EU neutralization of Swiss particularism D Conclusion: Switzerland as the outsiders’ insider within the EU 7 The impact of European refugee law on the regional, subregional and national planes in Africa A Introduction B The European asylum acquis C The regional level: the OAU’s early emulation and contemporary AU practice 1 The drafting of the 1969 Convention 2 The contemporary AU approach to refugee protection D The subregional level: contemporary emulation in SADC 1 The free movement of people 2 Towards the harmonization of refugee protection in SADC E The national level: modern indicators of influence F Conclusion 8 Stealth emulation: the United States and European protection norms A Introduction B Setting the stage: the context for emulation in the United States 1 American exceptionalism 2 The debate about foreign law 3 The dualist emphasis on domestic law C The US asylum system and European refugee law 1 Direct emulation in the past 2 Pathways of emulation in the present (a) Training in international norms (b) Legal education (c) Transnational networks D Partial emulation of CEAS norms 1 Membership of a particular social group (a) Early US jurisprudence (b) The CEAS norm (c) New challenges in the United States (d) Emulation or coincidence? 2 Subsidiary protection (a) US responses to the protection gap (b) The case for norm diffusion E Conclusion 9 The vanishing refugee: how EU asylum law blurs the specificity of refugee protection A Introduction B Mutual trust 1 The EU definition of ‘refugee’ 2 The distribution of protection responsibilities 3 Summary C A space without internal borders 1 The logic of external border control 2 The logic of internal control 3 Summary D Enter human rights 1 The limits of trust 2 Human rights-based protection (a) Subsidiary protection: the opportunity (b) Subsidiary protection: the risk (c) Summary E Conclusion 10 Conclusion: Europe’s normative power in refugee law Bibliography Domestic constitutional and legislative instruments Documents of government departments Regional and international instruments and documents of the UnitedNations, European Union and other intergovernmental organizations Case law Secondary sources Index