Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE INL5007

 
TITLE International Migration Law

 
UM LEVEL 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course

 
MQF LEVEL 7

 
ECTS CREDITS 5

 
DEPARTMENT International Law

 
DESCRIPTION This study-unit provides an overview of the international legal obligations relating to migration beyond refugee law. It seeks to contextualize Malta’s legal and policy developments in the area of migration within the broader international legal framework by providing participants with the tools necessary to assess Malta’s international legal obligations. In particular, this study-unit will deal with the various facets of migration including human rights and labour rights.

- Conceptualizing international migration law – understanding the relevance of international migration law and how different aspects are addressed;
- Voluntary Migration v. Forced Migration;
- Sources of international migration law;
- Global migration institutions and processes;
- The rights of migrants under international human rights law, freedom of movement as a human right;
- International trade law and labour mobility;
- Migrant workers and their rights under international labour law (the ILO framework);
- Regional developments on migration (focus on the European Union);
- Human Trafficking;
- Migrant Smuggling;
- Statelessness;
- Internal Displacement;
- Migration and Development;
- Vulnerability in international migration (women, children and other vulnerable groups);
- Emerging legal issues in international migration.

Study-unit Aims:

To provide student an overview and up-to-date picture of the international legal instruments relating to migration, including both voluntary and forced migration. In so doing, it will allow the students to better understand Malta’s obligations and to engage more effectively with issues of migration law and policy at the national, European and International level. The study-unit will introduce the different perspectives on the issues including the state control of migration dimension and the human rights angle.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Knowledge & Understanding:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:
- Understand the nature of international migration and the legal regime regulating them;
- Distinguish between forced migration and voluntary migration, reflecting on the blurred lines between the two categories and understand the legal regime regulating migration at the international level;
- Understand the various legal instruments that regulate particular aspects of international migration;
- Appreciate the interplay between legal rules and underlying exigencies and State interests in regulating migration;
- Be able to give a legal evaluation of various State actions and migration control measures;
- Acknowledge the importance of international law when dealing with migration issues;
- Appraise the feasibility of further measures to regulate migration at the international level and the practical meaning of the freedom of movement set out in Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

2. Skills:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:
- Be conversant in critical reasoning with regard to international migration and how it is regulated under international law;
- Apply learned knowledge to particular fact situations.

Main Text/s:

- B. Opeskin, R. Perruchoud and J. Redpath-Cross, Foundations of International Migration Law (Cambridge University Press 2012).
- R. Perruchoud and K. Tomolova, Compendium of International Migration Law Instruments (TMC ASSER Press 2007).
- Satvinder Singh Juss, International Migration and Global Justice (Ashgate Press 2007).
- International Organization for Migration, World Migration Report (Online 2014).
- Satvinder Singh Juss (ed.), The Ashgate Research Companion to Migration Law, Theory and Policy (Ashgate Press 2013).

Supplementary Reading:

Students will be advised to read individual chapters and papers rather than textbooks.
- Anne Galagher, The International Law of Human Trafficking (Cambridge University Press 2010).

 
ADDITIONAL NOTES Students taking this study-unit need to have a background in law.

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture, Seminar & Independent Study

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Assessment Due Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Presentation (20 Minutes) SEM1 No 25%
Research Paper SEM1 Yes 75%

 
LECTURER/S

 

 
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints.
Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

https://www.um.edu.mt/course/studyunit