Summary Conclusions of the Roundtable on the Future of Refugee Convention Supervision

On 28 and 29 September 2012 the University of Cambridge and University of Michigan co-hosted a Roundtable on the Future of Refugee Convention Supervision at Downing College. The Roundtable, convened by Professor James Hathaway, Director of the Program in Refugee and Asylum Law at the University of Michigan, and Justice Anthony North, Immediate Past President of the International Association of Refugee Law Judges, involved a group of leading jurists and scholars from around the world, including Faculty member Professor David Feldman, Baroness Brenda Hale of the United Kingdom Supreme Court, and UNHCR's Director of International Protection, Volker Türk.

The Summary Conclusions of the Roundtable have just been published. Drawing on studies prepared by the Cambridge Pro Bono Project (to be published later this year), the Summary Conclusions propose the establishment of a Special Committee of Experts, comprised of judges and others tasked with the issuance of advisory opinions at the request of the High Commissioner, courts, and specialist tribunals.

In total, a team of fifteen Ph.D. and LL.M. students worked on the preparation of the working papers that fed into the Roundtable. The team was led by Jason Pobjoy, the founding Chair of the Cambridge Pro Bono Project, and advised by Professor David Feldman. The supervisors of the three working papers were Alysia Blackham (Ph.D.), Claire Nielsen (Ph.D.) Katie O'Byrne (LL.M.), Josh Scheinert (LL.M.) and Joanna Whiteman (LL.M.). The lead researchers for the project were Daniel Costelloe, Konrad Duden, Sarah Grimmer, Callista Harris, Leigh Hudson, Tarini Mehta, Toni Palmer, Stuart Scott and Daniella Waddoup. Additional research assistance was provided by Alice Lam, Claire Simmonds, Janaki Tampi, Chanelle Taoi and Alex White.