National Case Law as a Generator of International Refugee Law: Rectifying an Imbalance within UNHCR Guidelines on International Protection

In this article, Professor Cecilia M. Bailliet seeks to evaluate UNHCR Guidelines on International Protection in order to examine whether there are discrepancies in the citation of national case law. Part I pursues quantitative analysis of UNHCR's references to national case law and international criminal tribunal case law in its guidelines. Part II presents an alternative view on the importance of transnational judicial dialogues within Refugee Law, juxtaposing the treatment of conscientious objectors seeking asylum in different national jurisdictions with the UNHCR guidelines on military service. Part III assesses whether the Background Papers demonstrate parallel citation lacunae or biases.

Part IV calls for reform of UNHCR's Department of International Protection in order to improve the compilation and reference to national case law by UNHCR in its soft law guidelines and policy documents, which would lead to greater transparency of UNHCR's Refugee Status Determination system.