International Journal of Refugee Law Advance Access originally published online on October 17, 2008
International Journal of Refugee Law 2008 20(4):675-709; doi:10.1093/ijrl/een030
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© The Author (2008). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
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The Queen (Al-Rawi and others) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and another (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees intervening)
Blackstone Chambers, 12 and 27 July 2006
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
UNHCR intervened in the case of R (Al-Rawi and others) v Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and another, which was heard by the United Kingdom Court of Appeal in July 2006.
Among other issues, the case involved the detention in Guantanamo of three British-recognized Convention refugees who had been issued with Convention travel documents valid for ten years. Although the British Government had already intervened with the United States authorities with regard to British citizens detained in Guantanamo, it refused to do so in the case of non-citizens, including the refugees, even though they were lawfully resident in the UK before their travel overseas and subsequent detention, and notwithstanding the fact that many had family still in the UK, many of whom were in fact British citizens.
Legal proceedings were begun by the families with a view to persuading the British Government to intervene and
Written Submissions on Behalf of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Intervener
Relevant facts and legal issues summarised
1. The United Kingdom and the United States of America: Parties to the 1951 Convention/1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees
1.1 The nature of the obligations
1.2 Article 16 of the 1951 Convention: Access to a court
1.3 Extraterritorial effect and the ‘opposability’ of decisions on refugee status
2. The United Kingdom's right to claim
3. Diplomatic protection
3.1 Exceptions to the nationality requirement: Breach of obligation or direct injury to the State itself
3.2 Exceptions to the nationality requirement: Protection of refugees
Diplomatic protection complementary to direct injury
4. Article 25 of the 1951 Convention and the present Appeal
5. Protection and the right to return
6. UNHCR's complementary protection role
7. Concluding submissions
Further Written Submissions on Behalf of the Intervener (UNHCR)
1. UNHCR's legal interest and the significance of this Appeal
2. Article 16 of the Convention: Further information on ‘proceedings’ in the United States of America
3. ‘Treaty-based protection’ and ‘diplomatic protection’
4. The question of legal standing
5. The question of exclusion
6. The ‘responsibility to protect’
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