International Institutions and Individualized Decision-Making: An Example of UNHCR's Refugee Status Determination

German Law Journal

Volumn 9, Issue 11, 2008, Pages 1779-1803

  Smrkolj, Maja ^a  

^a MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR COMPARATIVE PUBLIC LAW AND INTERNATIONAL LAW   (Germany)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 77952657097     PISSN: None     EISSN: 20718322     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S2071832200000651     Document Type: Article

References (94)

1. A TRAGEDY OF FAILURES AND FALSE EXPECTATIONS, REPORT ON THE EVENTS SURROUNDING THE THREEMONTH SIT-IN AND FORCED REMOVAL OF SUDANESE REFUGEES IN CAIRO, SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER 2005 (Azzam Fateh (ed), 2006), available at: http://www.aucegypt.edu/ResearchatAUC/rc/fmrs/ reports/Pages/default.aspx.
2. Laura Barnett, Global Governance and the Evolution of the International Refugee Regime, 14 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF REFUGEE LAW (INTJREFL) 238 (2002);
3. Guy S. Goodwin-Gil, The Language of Protection, 1 INTJREFL 6 (1989);
4. WAILTRUD VON GLAHN, DER KOMPETENZWANDEL INTERNATIONALER FLÜCHTLINGSORGANISATION: VON VÖLKERBUND BIS ZU DEN VEREINTEN NATIONEN (1992);
5. Atle Grahl-Madsen, The European Tradition of Asylum and the Development of Refugee Law, in THE LAND BEYOND: COLLECTED ESSAYS ON REFUGEE LAW AND POLICY 34 (Peter Macalister-Smith & Gudmundur Alfredsson eds., 2001).
6. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (CSR51), Geneva, 28 July 1951, UNTS, vol. 189, 150.
7. Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees (CSRP67), New York, 31 January 1967, UNTS, vol. 606, 267.
8. Benedict Kingsbury, Nico Krisch & Richard Stewart, Introduction: Global Governance and Global Administrative Law in the International Legal Order, 17 EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW (EJIL) 1 (2006);
9. Eberhard Schmidt-Aßmann, Die Herausforderung der Verwaltungsrechtswissenschaft durch die Internationalisierung der Verwaltungsbeziehungen, 45 DER STAAT 315 (2006).
10. UNHCR, Global Report 2007, 16, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/publ/PUBL/484807202.pdf
11. JAMES C. HATHAWAY, THE LAW OF REFUGEE STATUS (1991).
12. See UNHCR, Note on Determination of Refugee Status under International Instruments, EC/SCP/5 (24 August, 1977), available at: http://www.unhcr.org/excom/EXCOM/3ae68cc04.html.
13. UNHCR, Global Report 2006, 26-27, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/publ/PUBL/4666d25b0.pdf.
14. RSDWatch.org, UNHCR RSD continues to grow in 2006, while government RSD declines again (August 2007), available at: http://www.rsdwatch.org/index_files/Page1747.htm.
15. Statement available at: http://www.unhcr.org/doclist/admin/42a409182.html.
16. Micael Kagan, The Beleaguered Gatekeeper: Protection Challenges Posed by UNHCR Refugee Status Determination, 18 INTJREFL 2 (2005).
17. For explicit criticism, see Michael Alexander, Refugee Status Determination Conducted by UNHCR, 11 INTJREFL 251 (1999);
18. Michael Kagan, Frontier Justice: Legal Aid and UNHCR Refugee Status Determination in Egypt, 19 JOURNAL OF REFUGEE STUDIES 45 (2006);
19. Mark Pallis, The Operation of UNHCR's Accountability Mechanisms, 37 NEW YORK UNIVERSITY JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AND POLITICS 869 (2005);
20. B.S. Chimni, Co-Option and Resistance: Two Faces of Global Administrative Law, 37 N.Y.U. JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AND POLITICS 799 (2005);
21. RSDWatch.org, No Margin for Error: Implementation of UNHCR's Procedural Standards for refugee status determination at selected UNHCR field offices in 2006 (September 2006), available at: http://www.rsdwatch.org/index_files/Page397.htm.
22. Eur. Court H.R., D. et autres c. Turquie, Judgment of 22 June 2006, App. no. 24245/03.
23. UNHCR, Procedural Standards for Refugee Status Determination under UNHCR's Mandate (September 2005), 1-2, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/publ/PUBL/4316f0c02.html.
24. This aspect is critically reflected also in the recent article by James C. Hathaway, Why Refugee Law Still Matters, 8 (1) MELBOURNE JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 89-103 (2007).
25. Jan Klabbers, The Changing Image of International Organizations, in THE LEGITIMACY OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS 221, 222 (Jean-Marc Coicaud & Veijo Heiskanen eds., 2001);
26. José E. Alvarez, International Organizations: Then and Now, 100 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 324 (2006)
27. B. S. Chimni, International Institutions Today: An Imperial Global State in the Making, 15 EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 1 (2004).
28. Walter Kälin, Supervising the 1951 Covention Relating to the Status of Refugees: Article 35 and beyond, in REFUGEE PROTECTION IN INTERNATIONAL LAW: UNHCR'S GLOBAL CONSULTATIONS ON INTERNATIONAL LAW 619 (Erika Feller, Volker Türk & Frances Nicholson eds., 2003).
29. Geoff Gilbert, Rights, Legitimate Expectations, Needs and Responsibilities: UNHCR and the New World Order, 10 INTJREFL 349 (1998).
30. UNCHR, Global Report 2003, at 301, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/publ/PUBL/40c6d75e0.pdf.
31. For a Model Cooperation Agreement: MARJOLEINE ZIECK, UNHCR'S WORLDWIDE PRESENCE IN THE FIELD: A LEGAL ANALYSIS OF UNHCR'S COOPERATION AGREEMENTS 335 (2006).
32. For an example of national legislation see Article 7 (Institutions with which cooperation is to be carried out) of the Regulation No. 1994/6169, Turkey, Official Gazette, 30 November 1994 (English translation available at: http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/refworld/rwmain.
33. VERDIRAME GUGLIELMO & BARBARA E HARRELL-BOND, RIGHTS IN EXILE: JANUS-FACED HUMANITARIANISM 78 (2005);
34. Edwin Odhiambo Abuya & George Mukundi Wachira, Assesing Asylum Claims in Africa: Missing or Meeting Standards?, 53 NETHERLANDS INTERNATIONAL LAW REVIEW 171 (2006).
35. UN GA ExCom, Extraterritorial Effect of the Determination of Refugee Status, GA Document No. 12 A (A/33/12/Add.1) (October 1978).
36. In the process of EU accession the country however has obliged itself to lift this limitation. UNHCR, Global Report 2006 (note 10), 446.
37. Eur. Court H.R., D. et autres (note 15).
38. Elizabeth Frantz, Report on the Situation of Refugees in Turkey: Findings of a Five-week Exploratory Study December 2002-January 2003, 16 (2003), available at: http://www.aucegypt.edu/ResearchatAUC/rc/fmrs/ reports/Pages/default.aspx.
39. Michael Kagan, Assessment of Refugee Status Determination Procedure at UNHCR's Cairo Office 2001-2002, Forced Migration and Refugee Studies Working Paper No. 1, 7 (2002), available at: http://www.aucegypt.edu/ResearchatAUC/rc/fmrs/reports/Pages/default.aspx;
40. Katarzyna Grabska, WHO ASKED THEM ANYWAY? RIGHTS, POLICIES AND WELLBEING OF REFUGEES IN EGYPT 13, 25 (2006), available at: http://www.aucegypt.edu/ResearchatAUC/rc/fmrs/reports/Pages/default.aspx.
41. Kagan (note 43), at 7;
42. Emily E. Arnold-Fernandez & Michael Kagan, UN Decision-Making for Refugee Status: Implications for American Asylum Policy, 8 ABA SECTION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION COMMITTEE NEWSLETTER 5 (2005).
43. Arnold-Fernandez & Kagan (note 44), at 6.
44. VG Freiburg, 07.05.2002, Decision Nr. 7 K 10114/00 (cf. also the opinion of UNHCR of 10.08.2000);
45. OVG Lüneburg, 07.12.2005, Decision Nr. 11 LB 193/04;
46. OVG Münster, 27.09.2006, Decision Nr. 8 A 1363/05. The cited decisions also summarize opinions issued by UNHCR on enquiries of the court.
47. UNHCR, Helping Refugees: An Introduction into UNHCR (2006 Edition), available at: http://www.unhcr.org/basics/BASICS/420cc0432.html#emergency.
48. VÖLKER TÜRK, DER FLÜCHTLINGSHOCHKOMMISARIAT DER VEREINTEN NATIONEN (UNHCR) 115, 118 (1992);
49. UN GA Res. 1166 (XII) of 26 November 1957.
50. UN ECOSOC Res. 672 (XXV) of 30 April 1958.
51. Erika Feller & Anja Klug, Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in MAX PLANCK ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW (Rüdiger Wolfrum ed., 2008), available at: www.mpepil.com.
52. UNHCR, UNHCR 2007 Financial Overview, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/partners/PARTNERS/45f027512.pdf.
53. UNHCR, Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status under the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees HCR/IP/4/Eng/REV.1, 4 (Reedited, January 1992), available at: http://www.unhcr.org/publ/PUBL/3d58e13b4.pdf. Italics added by the author.
54. UNHCR, A Thematic Compilation of Executive Committee Conclusions (2nd Edition, June 2005), available at: http://www.unhcr.org/excom/3bb1cb676.html.
55. Pallis (note 14), at 873;
56. Chimni (note 14), at 820.
57. Available at: http://www.unhcr.org/doclist/publ/3bc17bbc4.html.
58. UNHCR, Standards (note 16), further resources listed in Annex 1-1.
59. Pallis (note 14), at 874.
60. Pallis (note 14), at 872, 880, 881
61. MANFRED NOWAK, U.N. CONVENANT ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS: CCPR COMMENTARY 317, marg. 20 (2nd revised edition, 2005).
62. Santhosh Persaud, Protecting refugees and asylum seekers under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, NEW ISSUES IN REFUGEE RESEARCH, RESEARCH PAPER NO. 132, 15 (2006), available at: http://www.unhcr.org/doclist/research/3b8a11284.html.
63. The latest report: ILC, Fifty-ninth session, Fifth report on responsibility of international organizations, A/CN.4/583 (2007).
64. UNGA, Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixtieth session Supplement No. 10, A/60/10, 87 (2005).
65. Pallis (note 14), at 872, 880.
66. ANDREW CLAPHAM, HUMAN RIGHTS OBLIGATIONS OF NON-STATE ACTORS 137 (2006).
67. Ralph Wilde, Quis Custodiet Ipso Custodes?: Why and How UNHCR Governance of 'Development' Refugee Camps Should Be Subject to International Human Rights Law, 1 YALE HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT LAW JOURNAL 107 (1998).
68. For a summary of the conceptions see Frederic Mégret & Florian Hoffmann, The UN as a Human Rights Violator? Some Reflections on the United Nations Changing Human Rights Responsibilities, 25 HUMAN RIGHTS QUARTERLY 314, 316 (2003).
69. See ERIKA DE WET, THE CHAPTER VII POWERS OF THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL 200 (2004).
70. UNHCR, Standards (note 16), 1-2.
71. UNHCR, Standards (note 16) 7-5.
72. See Erika Feller, Judicial or Administrative Protection - Legal Systems Within the Asylum Procedures, in THE ASYLUM PROCESS AND THE RULE OF LAW (International Association of Refugee Law Judges) 39 (2006).
73. UN GA ExCom, Determination of Refugee Status GA Document No. 12 A (A/32/12/Add.1) (October 1977).
74. UNHCR, Standards (note 16), at 1-7, 4-5.
75. UNHCR EPAU, UNHCR evaluation policy 3, 4 (September 2002), available at: http://www.unhcr.org/research/RESEARCH/3d99a0f74.pdf.
76. UNHCR, Global Appeal 2007, 308, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/static/publ/ga2007/ga2007toc.htm.
77. Pallis (note 14), at 902.
78. UNHCR, Global Appeal 2007 (note 105), at 307.
79. UNGA ExCom, Report on UNHCR's inspection and investigation activities A/AC.96/993, note 28, (July 2004).
80. Pallis (note 14), at 897.
81. See UN GA, ExCom, Report on UNHCR's inspection and investigation activities, A/AC.96/993 (July 2004)
82. UN GA, ExCom, Report on activities of the Inspector General's Office, A/AC.96/1028 (July 2006)
83. UN GA, ExCom, Report on activities of the Inspector General's Office, A/AC.96/1042 (July 2007).
84. Pallis (note 14), at 897.
85. Executive Office, Enhancing Independence of the Office of the Inspector General, Note for Informal Consultative Meeting, note 6, (21 July 2005), available at: http://www.unhcr.org/excom/EXCOM/42de51282.pdf.
86. UNHCR ExCom, Oversight: Report of the Joint Inspection Unit with Annexes, EC/54/SC/CRP.21, (23 August 2004), available at: http://www.unhcr.org/excom/EXCOM/41348eff4.pdf.
87. UN GA Res. 48/218 B of 12 August 1994.
88. Yearly reports available at: http://www.un.org/Depts/oios/annual_reports.htm.
89. Alexander (note 14), at 287.
90. Kagan (note 13), at 27.
91. B.S. Chimni, Global Administrative Law: Winners and Loosers 23 (2005), available at: http://www.iilj.org/GAL/documents/ChimniPaper.pdf
92. Metaphor used in CATHERINE BRÖLMANN, THE INSTITUTIONAL VEIL IN PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW: INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND THE LAW OF TREATIES (2005).
93. Eur. Court H.R., Matthews v. the United Kingdom, Judgment of 18 February 1999, App. no. 24833/94, para 34.
94. For a similar approach, see Jean d'Aspremont, Abuse of the Legal Personality of International Organisations and the Responsibility of Member States, 4 (1) INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS LAW REVIEW 91-119 (2007).