Skip to Main Content

International Refugee Law: Sources To Support Safe Harbor Participants & Other Interns: Refugee Case Databases & Tips To Find Foreign Cases

Compilations of Refugee Case Law

Also:

UNHCR, Compilation of Case Law on Refugee Protection in International Law (Mar. 2008)

  • In Westlaw, there are ALR International annotations interpreting the 1951 Convention and the Torture Convention, such as:
    • Construction and Application of Article 1A of United Nations Convention Relating to Status of Refugees, July 28, 1951, 189 U.N.T.S. 137, Regarding Term "Refugee"--Global Cases, 1 A.L.R. Int'l 599.
    • Construction and Application of Article 33 of United Nations Convention Relating to Status of Refugees, July 28, 1951, 189 U.N.T.S. 137, Regarding Prohibition of Expulsion or Return--Global Cases, 2 A.L.R. Int'l 259.
    • Construction and Application of Article 1F of United Nations Convention Relating to Status of Refugees, July 28, 1951, 189 U.N.T.S. 137, Regarding Exclusion of Certain Individuals Based on Crimes or Acts--Global Cases, 3 A.L.R. Int'l 235.
    • Construction and Application of Article 31(1) of United Nations Convention Relating to Status of Refugees, July 28, 1951, 189 U.N.T.S. 137, Regarding Penalties Imposed on Refugees Unlawfully in Country of Refuge—Global Cases, 4 A.L.R. Int'l 105.
    • Construction and Application of Article 1C of United Nations Convention Relating to Status of Refugees Regarding Cessation of Refugee Circumstances--Global Cases, 5 A.L.R. Int'l 1  
    • Construction and Application of Article 1 of United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment, or Punishment, Dec. 10, 1984, 1465 U.N.T.S. 85, and Implementing Legislation—Definition of Term “Torture”—Non-United States Cases, 4 A.L.R. Int'l 165.

 

Searchable Databases of Refugee Case Law from Many Countries

Can search case law by Jurisdiction or can browse case law by Country.

Can search by document type: Case Law  

  • European Network on Statelessness, Statelessness Case Law Database
  • Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, Instructions for attorneys working on individual asylum cases to create an account and to access CGRS' TA Library of litigation support resources.

Primarily links to case law aggregators.  Also links to selected leading cases.  

Related:

Provides decisions and orders of international/ized criminal courts and tribunals that address issues relating to sexual and gender-based violence.

Country-specific Sources of Refugee Case Law

Free Sources of Foreign Case Law

WLII allows you to search free sources of decisions published by many foreign courts and tribunals.  For some countries, such as Australia, WLII also links to case citators. 

Links to  WLII "Courts and Case Law" pages for:

Also supports searches of Migration Review Tribunal decisions and Refugee Review Tribunal decisions

Additional material may be available through AUSTLII.

Also supports searches of Immigration and Refugee Board decisions.

Additional material may be available through CANLII.

Additional material may be available through HKLII.

Additional material may be available through BIALII.

Link to RefNZ's indexes of cases

Additional material may be available through NZLII.

Additional material may be available through SAFLII.

Also supports searches of Asylum and Immigration Tribunal decisions.

Link to UK Supreme Court.

Additional material may be available through BAILII.

WLG primarily links to websites of high courts in many countries.

Westlaw & Lexis Advance Subscription Databases of Foreign Case Law

Westlaw and Lexis+ provide U.S. cases concerning international law and cases of selected international courts and tribunals.  They also provide cases of selected courts and tribunals in common-law oriented jurisdictions.

  • Westlaw path:

> Tab: Westlaw

> Under: Specialty areas, click: "International Materials"

> Choose jurisdiction

Westlaw provides large databases of cases for Australia, Canada, European Union, Hong Kong, Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom.

  • Lexis+ path:

> To the right of "Explore," click tab: International 

> Choose jurisdiction

Lexis Advance provides large databases of cases for Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Other Subscription Databases of Foreign Case Law available to BLS Library Patrons

This database includes Juta's South African Law Reports and a database of unreported decisions.  If you own a Mac, use Firefox web browser when searching Jutastat

 (Please speak to a BLS librarian about Jutastat.  There is a single BLS username/password for this source.) 

  • United Kingdom: ICLR (provides The Law Reports for the Superior and Appellate Courts of England and Wales).