Undergraduate Course: Asylum and Refugee Law and Policy (LAWS10175)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course aims to examine, through a socio-legal lens, the treatment of refugees, as defined by the 1951 Refugee Convention. Its main focus is therefore on asylum seekers, and legal processes involved in claiming asylum in the UK, with some reference to the EU. It examines the development of policy and law in the area with reference to key concepts such as internal relocation, persecution, and the Convention reasons that can ground a claim of persecution. In particular we will focus on the bureaucratic and legal hurdles that asylum seekers must surmount to become officially recognised as legitimate refugees in the UK, especially the problems of evidencing and proving credibility. This will include the observation of the operation of an asylum and immigration First Tier Tribunal in practice. The courses therefore will allow students to understand the theory, the policy and the practice of applying the UN Convention in the UK. |
| Course description |
There will be 10 substantive sessions, taught by experts on asylum and refugee law from across the CHSS. The main focus will be asylum and refugee law and policy at the supra national and UK level. A possible course outline is as follows:
Week 1. The background and history of the UN Convention on refugees and the interpretation of these obligations at EU level, including the Qualification Directive.
Week 2. Convention reasons and the evolution of key concepts such as persecution
Week 3. UK asylum system
Week 4. Interpretation and cultural communication
Week 5. Visit to asylum tribunal
Week 6. Reading week
Week 7. The role of the asylum lawyer (tribunal report due at the end of this week)
Week 8. The role of Expert Evidence
Week 9. Objective evidence and country of information reports
Week 10. Credibility case studies: torture, sexual violence and sexual orientation
Week 11. Displacement and relocation, concepts of home
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2015/16, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 30 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
176 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
This course will involve a 4,000 word assessed essay worth 60%, a 2,000 word report, based on the observation of an asylum tribunal, worth 30%, and class participation, worth 10%. |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Knowledge and Sources of Law
Students should be able to:
- understand the context of asylum in the UK, including the international conventions and EU rules that inform the UK system;
- develop a deep critical awareness of recent case law in the UK
- comprehend and critically analyse recent research, in the UK and comparatively in eg Canada, on the process of refugee status determination
- Subject-specific Skills
Be able to:
- critically analyse the evolution of key principles of refugee law and their application in the UK
- observe and understand the operation of asylum tribunal decision-making
- General Transferable Intellectual Skills
Be able to:
- explore new ways of critiquing, understanding and shaping our legal and social responses to questions of social justice;
- discuss difficult issues constructively with peers, demonstrating understanding and an ability to construct sound arguments and take different perspectives into account
- engage with legal and administrative processes in the UK, law on the books, and compare them with law in action (at the tribunal)
- Key Personal Skills
- Active listening;
- Working constructively and professionally in a classroom environment discussing politically charged issues;
- Engaging with difficult questions from a variety of disciplinary and political perspectives: legal, anthropological, ethical, sociological.
- Subject-specific Legal and Ethical Values
- To try to understand with the plight of those seeking refuge and the laws that govern the determination of their refugee status;
- To understand the challenges faced by those seeking asylum in the UK;
- To engage with contemporary issues of social justice; to become more empathetic lawyers
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Sharon Cowan
Tel: (0131 6)50 8000
Email: |
Course secretary | Mrs Heather Haig
Tel: (0131 6)50 2053
Email: |
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