LAW-40058 - Module Specification
School of Law
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2024/25

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2024/25

This module on international refugee law, although still of great contemporary relevance, presents a very unique perspective.
It is delivered in the context of international law however it offers an intersection between law, politics, sociology and psychology and in doing so offers an insight into the plight of asylum seekers as they seek international protection.

This module allows students to undertake an advanced study of international refugee law in its historical, political and social context. The module considers the legal protections available to refugees and the complementary protection as well as the shortcomings of the protection mechanism.
The aims of this module are to:
-understand, identify and analyse the evolution of the international protection regime as afforded to refugees
-explore and explain the rational underlying the legal and political responses of the international community to the challenges of forced migration
-demonstrate an understanding and knowledge of the legal principles and standards of awarding refugee status including human rights grounds

Intended Learning Outcomes

Satisfactorily use the academic conventions and relevant academic source materials to demonstrate knowledge and critical judgement in support of their view points, for example through library research and online database such as Westlaw and LexisNexis: 1
Satisfactorily identify and critique the key issues covered in the module via primary and secondary sources of international, regional and domestic legal, historical, political and social materials relating to international refugee law: 1
Through synthesis and analysis of the course reading materials come to some critical judgement by applying aspects of the core knowledge and its application to relevant and new challenges in the field of refugee law: 1
Present a coherent written piece of assessment that allow them to articulate to others a critical evaluation of the knowledge that they have acquired and its application in different potentialities and context relevant to the field of refugee law: 1

Study hours

12 x 2 = 24 of teaching time
12 x 5 = 60 preparation time, as every lecture (seminar style) entails advance reading and preparation
6 hours for an annotated bibliography for the last lecture
60 hours of independent research and reading for assessment

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment