UNHCR Global Consultations on International Protection of Refugees

Interpreting the Refugees Convention - an Australian contribution

Interpreting the Refugees Convention - an Australian contribution comprises a series of papers developed by the Department as a contribution to the UNHCR's Expert Roundtable discussions, held between May 2001 and November 2001.

These papers reflect a vigorous analysis of current international law and Australia's considered position on interpretation of some of the important provisions of the Convention.

Links to publication

Note: these files are in PDF format which require the Adobe Acrobat Reader, version 4 or later, on your computer. For more information, see PDF Files.

Part one - Title pages (18KB PDF file)
Part two - Foreword by Immigration Minister, Philip Ruddock (15KB PDF file)
Part three - Contents (10KB PDF file)
Part four - Introduction (28KB PDF file)
Part five - The cessation clauses (Article 1C) Roundtable 1 (87KB PDF file)
Part six - Persons deemed unworthy of international protection (Article 1F) Roundtable 1 (126KB PDF file)
Part seven - Principle of non-refoulement (Article 33) Roundtable 2 (137KB PDF file)
Part eight - Particular social group Roundtable 3 (151KB PDF file)
Part nine - Gender-related persecution (Article 1A(2)) Roundtable 3 (148KB PDF file)
Part ten - The internal flight alternative Roundtable 3 (139KB PDF file)
Part eleven - Article 31: Refugees unlawfully in the country of refuge Roundtable 4 (389KB PDF file)
Part twelve - Protecting the refugee's family Roundtable 4 (212KB PDF file)
Part thirteen: (132KB PDF file)

• Appendix One - Australian statement to Parties to the Convention related to the Status of Refugees
• Appendix Two - Declaration of States Parties to the 1951 Convention and or its 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees
• Legal cases
• Statutory and international documents
• Abbreviations
• Bibliography