International Justice and Human Rights Unit

Dr Mariagiulia Giuffré has been awarded two prestigious fellowships by the University of Münster, Germany (2021-2022):  the Schumann Fellowship by the Karina and Erich Schumann Centre for Advanced International Legal Studies, and the Wire (Women in Research) Fellowship to support her work on migration and international law.

As part of her research stay at the University of Münster, Dr Giuffré has published a paper on:

‘A functional-impact model of jurisdiction: Extraterritoriality before the European Court of Human Rights’ (Questions of International Law 2021)

This article explores the feasibility of a comprehensive paradigm based on functional jurisdiction and public powers, a paradigm that is at the same time complemented by an approach to jurisdiction based on the control exercised by the State over an individual’s enjoyment of human rights, whether within or outside territorial borders. More specifically, it attempts to show how a functional reading of jurisdiction, which is not reliant on physical control and the positive/negative nature of State obligations, would offer a more coherent stance to the Court in a vast array of cases, including State action at sea and the innumerable (interstate and individual) complaints concerning armed conflicts and active hostilities.

Moreover, this article asks to what extent the Strasbourg Court would positively rely on the interpretation of human rights principles articulated by other international human rights bodies – in particular with regard to the impact of State actions on the enjoyment of individual rights as an element to affirm extraterritorial jurisdiction.

Dr Giuffré has also recently published a piece on “The Conversation” concerning the death of 27 persons in the English Channel. Not only has the UK responsibilities towards people coming towards its shoreline on boats, but it has also a duty of cooperation with France under the SAR and SOLAS Convention to prevent loss of life at sea and ensure completion of a search and rescue operation, through disembarkation in a place of safety.

20 Years: Idea, Inaction, and Implementation
1 – 2 June, 2021
Liverpool, UK

The International Justice and Human Rights Unit is thrilled to announce the call for papers for an international conference in collaboration with the University of Ljubljana, the European Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (ECR2P), and the British International Studies Association’s Working Group on Intervention and the Responsibility to Protect.

The Organising Committee is pleased to confirm that Dr Simon Adams, of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, will be giving a keynote address at the conference. Further speakers will be confirmed soon.

We are seeking for papers that address all aspects of the R2P – theoretical, empirical and/or normative. Scholars and practitioners of all career stages are most welcome to submit paper proposals.

Full details of the conference and call for papers can be found on the R2P conference website.

The International Justice and Human Rights Research Unit is excited to announce the publication of two monographs by its members, as part of the Hart Publishing Series of ‘Studies in International Law’.

Dr Mariagiulia Giuffré has written The Readmission of Asylum Seekers under International Law, exploring the questions which lie at the junction of migration control and refugee law standards, and the extent to which readmission can hamper refugees’ access to protection.

Dr Patrick Butchard has published The Responsibility to Protect and the Failures of the United Nations Security Council which, at a time of inaction and political paralysis at the United Nations, explains the legality of alternative action beyond the UN Security Council.

Both books are now available to order. Keep watch on our events page and Twitter for announcements and developments about this research.

This monograph could not be more timely, as discourses relating to refugees’ access to territory, rescue at sea, push-back, and push-back by proxy dominate political debate. Looking at the questions which lie at the junction of migration control and refugee law standards, it explores the extent to which readmission can hamper refugees’ access to protection. Though it draws mainly on European law, notably the European Convention on Human Rights, it also examines other international frameworks, including those employed by the United Nations and instruments such as the Refugee Convention. Therefore, this book is of importance to readers of international law, refugee law, human rights and migration studies at the global level. It offers an analysis of both the legal and policy questions at play, and engages fully with widely-disputed cases concerning readmission agreements, deportation with assurances and interception at sea. By so doing, this book seeks to clarify a complex field which has at times suffered from partiality in both its terminology and substance.

What can be done if the United Nations Security Council fails to protect people from mass atrocities? At a time of inaction and political paralysis at the United Nations, this book explains the legality of alternative action beyond the Security Council.

This book takes a fresh look at the responsibility to protect and offers new and compelling insights into the powers and limits of the UN Security Council. It argues that the Security Council’s responsibility to maintain international peace and security, and its responsibility to protect, do not die with its own failures. Other actors can and must take up responsibility to save those in need. In a persuasive and detailed examination of the legal framework, this research identifies options for coercive measures to be taken beyond the Council that could be used to break the deadlock, including through the General Assembly and regional organisations.

It provides a must-have resource for students, academics, and researchers on key principles of international law. It also offers insight for governments, policy-makers, and other international actors on how they can uphold their legal responsibilities, maintain peace and security, and prevent their failures from undermining the very existence of the UN itself.