A Global Approach to Secret Evidence: How Human Rights Law Can Reform Our Immigration System

67 Pages Posted: 10 Jan 2008 Last revised: 16 Mar 2009

See all articles by Jaya Ramji-Nogales

Jaya Ramji-Nogales

Temple University - James E. Beasley School of Law

Abstract

This article addresses two of the most pressing issues facing our society today - rights violations in anti-terrorism efforts and dysfunction in the immigration system - through a case study of the use of secret evidence in immigration proceedings. Cataloguing the government's repeated presentation of unreliable and inaccurate information in support of its efforts to deport suspected terrorists, the paper outlines the individual, societal, and global harms resulting from this misuse of secret evidence. It then discusses relevant human rights law, which offers a particularly appropriate mechanism to address these harms through its careful balancing of national security interests and due process rights. The article advocates the use of human rights law as a guidebook and a yardstick to reform the administrative immigration process through statutory interpretation, regulation drafting, and institutional culture creation.

Keywords: immigration law, international human rights law, secret evidence, convention against torture, refugee, administrative law, terrorism, due process

JEL Classification: K33, K49

Suggested Citation

Ramji-Nogales, Jaya, A Global Approach to Secret Evidence: How Human Rights Law Can Reform Our Immigration System. Columbia Human Rights Law Review, Vol. 39, 2008, Temple University Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2008-38, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1080317

Jaya Ramji-Nogales (Contact Author)

Temple University - James E. Beasley School of Law ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://www.law.temple.edu/contact/jaya-ramji-nogales/

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