The Law of Refugee Status

The first edition of The Law of Refugee Status (published in 1991) is generally regarded as the seminal text on interpreting the refugee definition set by the UN's 1951 Refugee Convention. Its groundbreaking analysis served as the bedrock for not only much judicial reasoning, but also for a burgeoning academic literature in law and related fields.

This second edition builds on the strong critical focus and human rights orientation of the first edition, but undertakes an entirely original analysis of the jurisprudence of leading common law and select civil law states. The authors provide robust responses to the most difficult questions of refugee status in a clear and direct way. The result is a comprehensive and truly global analysis of the central question in asylum law: who is a refugee?

- Provides comprehensive analysis of the central question in asylum law: who is entitled to refugee status? Judges, lawyers and officials in the state parties bound by the Refugee Convention focus on this question every day, and will find it a valuable resource for their work
- Engages not only with relevant international law, but also analyses the jurisprudence of leading common and civil law states in order to synthesise the most creative judicial thinking on refugee law and promote a genuinely global approach to refugee law
- Tackles the hardest issues in contemporary refugee law in a direct and principled way, making this an indispensable resource for those engaged in creative thinking about how best to address involuntary migration