Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/62883
Title: The role of the lawyer in asylum adjudication : a lesson from comparative legal systems
Authors: Grech, Amanda
Keywords: Asylum, Right of -- Malta
Refugees -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- Malta
Emigration and immigration law -- Malta
Refugees -- Government policy -- Malta
Issue Date: 2008
Citation: Grech, A. (2008). The role of the lawyer in asylum adjudication : a lesson from comparative legal systems (Master’s dissertation).
Abstract: Refugee Law is a hot debated issue at present, not only in Malta but also on a global scale. This branch of international law based particularly on the 1951 Refugee Convention relating to status of refugees together with the 1967 protocol, must be evaluated not only in terms of its internal logic but also within the ambit by which it is implemented by a particular State. The mode of implementation seems to be more important then the substantive law itself because of the outcome of the decision. In Malta for example, the fact that an RSD process produces a high number of temporary humanitarian protection appears to be related to confusion regarding who is a refugee, a person needing humanitarian aid and an illegal immigrant. According to statistics, only 75 persons were recognized as refugees during the first two years of the operation of the Refugee Commission in comparison to the 439 persons, which were granted temporary humanitarian protection, and the 473 rejected asylum applications During my studies in Refugee Law, I became more interested to explore the various ways asylum adjudication is put into practice in different countries because I realized that this is one of the main areas where legal systems differ in implementing asylum law. In this thesis, I attempted to investigate this issue, particularly by documenting the various forms of RSD proceedings that exist globally, evaluating the lawyer's role in an adversarial and inquisitorial proceedings and showing how adversarial proceedings give lawyers a better opportunity to make their clients' case while also being more likely to expose problematic and defective asylum claims. In the conclusion, the advantages of a limited reform of the Maltese asylum adjudication system are advocated, in particular by introducing an adversarial mode of proceedings at the appeal stage. These suggested reforms arise from the fact that a refugee lawyer seems to have a very important role in each type of proceedings. This line of thought emerges from the fact that the refugee lawyer's role at first instance, which is usually of an inquisitorial nature, should be more focused on the client with the aim to remove any communicative barriers. If the inquisitorial method does not work out at this stage, then it seems that the focus should be directed to the decision maker by introducing an adversarial mode of asylum adjudication at appeal stage, as this would give the lawyer the opportunity to interpret any factual issues probably misunderstood during the interview.
Description: LL.D.
URI: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/62883
Appears in Collections:Dissertations - FacLaw - 1958-2009

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