Under what circumstances can a state refuse refugee status to a person whose risk of persecution exists in only part of her country of origin? This book is the first monograph to examine the treaty basis and criteria for the ‘internal protection alternative’ (IPA), an exception to refugee status increasingly invoked by state parties to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol. Through a critical analysis of the relationship between refugee law and related fields, Schultz finds that the legal scope for IPA practice is narrower than is commonly claimed. Since persons subject to an IPA analysis have a well-founded fear of persecution within their countries of origin, any limit on their right to refugee status must involve a careful balancing of the impact of continued displacement against the state's interest in preserving its restricted protection resources. She argues that the doctrine of implied limits in human rights law can provide analytic structure to the IPA concept and reduce the risk of overly broad application.
Jessica Schultz, Ph.D. (1973), is a researcher at the Chr. Michelsen Institute in Bergen, Norway. She has published and taught on a range of topics related to human rights and refugee law.
Acknowledgments List of Acronyms List of Tables
1Introduction
1.1 Background to the Study
1.2 Explanations for the Emergence of
IPA
Practice
1.3 The Evolution of
IPA
Practice
1.4 Terminology: Internal Protection/Flight/Relocation Alternative
1.5 Treatment of the Topic by Others
1.6 Subject Matter Limitations
1.7 Overview of the Book
2Methodology
2.1 Introduction: Parameters for Valid Argumentation
2.2 The Process of Treaty Interpretation: Applying the
VCLT
2.3 Interpretation in Light of a Treaty’s Normative Context
2.4 The Relevance of State Practice
2.5
UNHCR
Legal Guidance on
IPA
Application
2.6 Academic Commentary
2.7 Empirical Legal Methods
2.8 Conclusion
3The Treaty Basis and Criteria for
IPA
Application in Theory and Practice
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Treaty Basis for
IPA
Practice: Current Approaches
3.3 Models for Establishing the Substantive Criteria for
IPA
Practice
3.4 Conclusion
4The Treaty Basis for Application of the
IPA
Test
4.1 Introduction
4.2 The Surrogate Role of Refugee Law: ‘thick’ vs. ‘thin’ Perspectives
4.3 The
IPA
and Regional Refugee Instruments
4.4 Conclusion
5The Baseline Requirements for
IPA
Application
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Non-refoulement protection under the Refugee Convention
5.3 Other Serious Harms: non-refoulement Guarantees in Human Rights Law
5.4 Other Requirements of ‘Effective Protection’
5.5 Actors of Protection
5.6 Conclusion
6Beyond Non-refoulement: Other Factors Relevant to
IPA
Application
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Impact of Displacement
6.3 Special Needs and Other Personal Factors
6.4 Factors Related to the Impact of
IPA
Practice on Countries of Origin
6.5 Are there any Easy Cases?
6.6 The
IPA
in EU Law: Compatible with the Refugee Convention?
6.7 Conclusion: The Substantive Criteria for
IPA
Practice
7Procedural and Evidentiary issues in the
IPA
Analysis
7.1 Introduction
7.2 The Burden of proof in the
IPA
Context
7.3 Notice and the Right to be Heard
7.4 Country of Origin Information (
COI
)
7.5 The
IPA
as a Procedural Shortcut for Dismissing Refugee Claims
7.6 Conclusion
8The
IPA
in Complementary Protection Regimes
8.1 Introduction
8.2 The
IPA
and Article 3
ECHR
: Essentially a Question of Risk
8.3 Principles Versus Practice in ECtHR Jurisprudence
8.4 ECtHR Jurisprudence Versus
IPA
Requirements in Refugee Law
8.5 Is there a Normative Basis for Harmonizing
IPA
Practice in all Protection Claims?
8.6 Conclusion
9
IPA
Application: Insights from Norway
9.1 Introduction
9.2 The Development of Refugee Law in Norway
9.3 The Asylum Infrastructure in Norway
9.4 Sources of Interpretation
9.5 Implementation of the
IPA
Concept: Points of Departure
9.6 The Requirement of ‘Effective Protection’ in Norwegian
IPA
Practice
9.7 Other Human Rights and Humanitarian Factors
9.8 Procedural Issues in Norwegian
IPA
Practice
9.9 Conclusion
10Conclusion
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Point of Departure: The Surrogate Role of Refugee Law
10.3 An Implied Limit on the Substance or Application of Article 1A(2)?
10.4 Substantive and Procedural Requirements for
IPA
Application
10.5 Concluding Remarks
Bibliography Case register
Anyone interested in international refugee law as well as European human rights law. This would include research institutes, law school libraries, students, refugee advocates, and not least asylum law practitioners.