Research activities
The Institute of Immigration Law is involved in research at various levels.
The Institute's research activities
The Institute of Immigration Law is involved in research at various levels. Fundamental research is conducted by employees who are writing a thesis in the field of Immigration Law. The Institute also conducts applied scientific research. This kind of contract research is often commissioned by national and international clients. The Institute seeks to research current points of law in the field of Immigration Law while noting the tension between theory and practice.
Phd - research
- Mr. M. Reneman, The fundamental right of fair asylum procedures in the European Community.
The purpose of the research is to identify the meaning and content of the community law principle of effective legal and judicial protection for the new asylum directives and regulations under Title IV EC Treaty. In EC law, fundamental rights are effectuated in the form of principles of community law, formulated by the Court of Justice. Though these principles are inspired by human rights treaties, the principles have an autonomous content. Expectedly, in asylum cases, a unified guiding principle will emerge for clarifying the scope and application of unclear or unsatisfactory provisions of the relevant new asylum directives and regulations.
- Drs. B. Straathof, Article 22, Convention of the Rights of the Child, rights of refugee children.
Key questions of this topic concern the exact scope of ‘appropriate protection and humanitarian assistance’; the meaning and extent of the references in the Convention to relevant rights laid down in international human rights instruments and humanitarian instruments; the impact of periodic reports to the Committee on the Rights of the Child by States Parties on the improvement of treatment and protection of refugee children; and the influence of the Convention on UNHCR policies and standards of protection for refugee children.
- Mark Klaassen MA LL.M, The meaning of the right to family reunification
Mark Klaassen is conducting PhD research on the meaning of the right to family reunification. His research is supervised by Prof. Rodrigues. Within international law states have a wide discretion to determine whether an immigrant has the right to reside within its territory. However, this discretion is limited by different instruments of international law on the right to reside in a state as a family member of a legally residing resident of that state. For example, a right of admission as a family member can, in particular circumstances, be derived from Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights. There are also several instruments under EU law, most notably Directive 2003/86 on the right to family reunification, in which the right to be admitted as a family migrant is laid down. Individuals who wish to make use of the rights derived from international and European law can, in principle, only claim a right to family reunification in the domestic legal system of the state in which they reside. As such, individuals have to rely on the implementation of the different provisions of international and European law on the right to family reunification within their domestic legal system. In this research Mark Klaassen is investigating the meaning of the right to family reunification in four member states of the EU. The selected member states are Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
- Drs. Ch. Mommers, the right and obligation of voluntary return for aliens without a legal status.
The starting point of this dissertation are the rights and obligations of the different actors involved in the practice of voluntary return: the alien, the host state, and the state of return. These different rights and obligations may clash. The research will explore the international, European and domestic legal foundations of these rights and obligations, the specific conflicts that arise between them, and how these can be reconciled within a framework that adequately protects the interests of all parties involved in voluntary return.
- C. Smyth (B.A., LL.B, LL.M), Rights of the child in EC immigration and asylum legislation
The research anticipates the coming together of two areas of law: the child rights in the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the Common European Asylum System. Previously, the connection was tenuous: the Charter was not legally binding and therefore there was no legal requirement that phase one CEAS should strictly conform to the rights therein. Now the connection is clear: the Charter it legally binding, ergo phase two CEAS must comply with it. In this context, this thesis seeks to explore the meaning of the child-specific rights in the Charter, in general and abstract terms, and in the specific context of asylum, in order to ascertain whether the rights are respected in the CEAS instruments.
This dissertation resorts under the programme entitled ‘Securing the rule of law in a world of multilevel jurisdiction’ of the Meijers Institute.
Contract research
The Institute of Immigration Law carries out both short and long term research for third parties. In 2009, amongst others, research was conducted for the Ministry of VROM (naturalization), the Scientific Research and Documentation Center of Justice WODC (European Law and migration) and the European Fundamental Rights Agency (return procedures).
For questions about contract research please contact Prof. mr. P.R. Rodrigues (071-527 8822) or Mr. drs. G. G. Lodder (071-527 7727).