Helene Lambert

• PhD In Comparative Asylum Law, Exeter University
• Professor at University of Wollongong, Australia, and University of Westminster, London

The rule of temporary refuge forms the cornerstone of the response of States to large-scale influx of refugees. In the context of civilians fleeing armed conflict, this legal rule imposes a positive obligation on all States to admit and not to return anyone to a situation where there is a risk to life, and to provide basic rights commensurate with...

The question of whether arbitrary deprivation of nationality constitutes persecution for the purposes of a determination of refugee status has received increased attention in recent jurisprudence. However, no systematic argument has been made to date on the ordinary meaning of words, context, object and purpose of Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Conventi...

This article examines the protection currently afforded in Europe to victims of armed conflict and indiscriminate violence in the context of article 15c of the EC Qualification Directive (QD) and article 3 of the ECHR. It analyses the recent case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the European Court of Human Rights, and five...

In this fully updated and revised edition, the authors explore the evolution, nature and function of international law in world politics and situate international law in its historical and political context. They propose three interdisciplinary 'lenses' (realist, liberal and constructivist) through which to view the role of international law in wor...

This commentary highlights an overwhelming lack of State practice on Art. 2 [1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees] due to its character as a moral obligation. Of the handful of courts' decisions referring to Art. 2, it notes a tendency in some countries (e.g. Canada and New Zealand) to use Art. 2 beyond its scope and the overall human...

This article focuses on a key aspect of the EC Qualification Directive, namely, the grounds of eligibility for subsidiary protection. These grounds rest on a test for the risk of ‘serious harm’ were the applicant to be returned to his or her country of origin. If a genuine risk of harm is found, then the applicant would qualify for protection. Arti...

The essays selected and reproduced in this volume explore how international refugee law is dynamic and constantly evolving. From an instrument designed to protect mostly those civilians fleeing the worse excesses of World War II, the 1951 Refugee Convention has developed into a set of principles, customary rules, and values that are now firmly embe...

State authority and power have become diffused in an increasingly globalised world characterised by the freer trans-border movement of people, objects, and ideas. As a result, some international law scholars believe that a new world order based on a complex web of transnational networks. Such a transnational legal order requires sufficient dialogue...

Increased policy harmonization on refugee matters in the European Union (EU), namely the creation of a Common European Asylum System (CEAS), has created the imperative for a transnational judicial comparative dialogue between national courts. This article is based on a structured, focused comparison approach to examining a key element of a transnat...

This opinion was written at the request of the Petitioners (Adalah - the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel) in Adalah and others v the Minister of the Interior and the Legal Advisor to the Government, after reading the English translation of the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary provisions) 5763-2003 (CEIL03), Adalah's...

International refugee law scholarship has long been dominated by a positivist tradition. Within this tradition, the human rights approach has now become the dominant approach. However, states and the formal agreements they agree to get us only so far in explaining how refugee law is created and how it develops. There is another layer of explanation...

In April 2004, the Council of the European Union adopted a Directive on minimum standards for the qualification of foreigners as refugees and the content of the protection granted. This article discusses the likely impact of this Directive on the jurisprudence of the United Kingdom relating to asylum. It recognises that some provisions in the Direc...

This article analyses the scope of the human rights of refugees in the ECHR looking at the latest trends in the jurisprudence developed by the Court and which are relevant to the protection of refugees. In doing so, it concentrates on the determination of those rights by the Court, leaving aside issues of access to those rights by refugees. Its foc...

In July 1996, the International Court of Justcie (ICJ) issued a controversial Advisory Opinion on the legality of nuclear use (including, threat of use). The ICJ found that 'nuclear use would generally be contrary to the rules of international law', but it failed to conclude that nuclear use would be unlawful in all circumstances. The major reason...

In a reserved judgment of 6 July 2000, Horvath v. Secretary of State for the Home Department, the House of Lords answered yes to the fundamental question: Is the protection afforded by (or lacking from) the state a necessary element in the concept of persecution under article 1A(2) of the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951. This an...

The Influence Of The Court’s Judgments On Other International Treaty Bodies: The UN Human Rights Committee And The UN Committee Against Torture.

A growing opinion has appeared in refugee and human rights discourse that the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms provides more extensive protection against refoulement (i.e., forced return to a country where the life or freedom of a person is at risk) than the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. Howeve...

While article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR50) does not provide an absolute right for individuals, it does impose certain obligations on States. In any dispute arising under this article, the European Court of Human Rights must balance two sets of competing interests, the right of individuals to private and family life, on one...

On 24 June 1998, the Commission adopted two proposals for joint action on asylum matters, one concerning temporary protection of displaced persons, the other concerning solidarity in the reception and residence of beneficiaries of temporary protection. The principles laid down in the text of these joint actions offer a realistic, and to some extent...

This article discusses whether the criteria and procedures which are currently being used in European states offer fair treatment and sufficient protection to women seeking asylum on the ground of a gender-related persecution. Under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee must show a well-founded fear of persecution on at...

This article examines the concept of ‘safe third country’ in the EU and assesses its meaning today in the light of recent leading judgments from the Strasbourg and Luxembourg Courts. It also considers the implications of this evolving concept for the UK, particularly in the light of its decision not to participate in the common standards on qualifi...

This chapter examines the centrality of the family, both nuclear and extended, in the international legal framework in a migration context. It focuses particularly on family unity and family reunification of persons in need of protection, that is, on already established families of refugees and asylum seekers and the resulting legal issues arising...