International Refugee Law

Abstract

This chapter examines the way constitutional courts have drawn on international refugee law as an external aid to constitutional interpretation. In a global context in which states have been looking to limit their international obligations towards refugees and restrict access to protection, national constitutional protections have taken on new significance. The chapter examines the way in which constitutional courts have responded to attempts to rely on entrenched constitutional provisions to challenge restrictive refugee policies, and the degree to which international refugee and human rights law have influenced constitutional interpretation in this context.

Keywords: refugee, asylum, constitutional, interpretation, due process, detention, comparative, non-citizen