A Month, a Year, a Decade? The Temporal Capacity of Protection for Refugees and Other Forced Migrants

The Oppenheimer Chair in Public International Law and the Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism, with the support of the McGill Refugee Research Group, welcome Professor Jane McAdam, University of New South Wales Law, Sydney, Australia; Director of the Andrew & Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law; and Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Refugee Law journal.

Abstract

In refugee law, the meaning of ‘well-founded fear of being persecuted’ has been extensively examined by courts and scholars alike. Yet, there has been very little consideration of how far into the future a risk of persecution may extend for protection to be warranted.

This lack of guidance on the question of timing has allowed an inappropriate notion of ‘imminence’ to infiltrate refugee decision-making across a range of jurisdictions – at times resulting in people being denied protection. It is especially pertinent to human rights-based claims involving harms that may manifest more gradually over time, such as those relating to the slow-onset impacts of climate change.

Professor McAdam's paper examines how certain courts have grappled with ‘time’ in a relatively nuanced way, highlighting principles that may be instructive for other contexts.

This event is eligible for inclusion as 1.5 hours of continuing legal education as reported by members of the Barreau du Québec.

A light lunch will be served.