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Migration law (completed)

The Faculty of Law has a long tradition of migration research and the research group builds on this scholarly and collaborative foundation. This research group aims to develop new legal knowledge on migration law.

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Illustration photo. Photo: Safwan Mumad, Unsplash

About the group

The research group in migration law will further the study of legal issues related to migration based on Norwegian, Nordic and International Law. A collaborative research environment creates good conditions for meeting the long term needs of migration research. The law is in rapid development, and there is a great need for research that helps articulate and theorize the overall trends. The research questions addressed in the research group seeks to make important contributions here.  

The field of migration law – crossing national borders and traditional disciplines

As a phenomenon, migration is multifaceted with legal, social, demographic, political and economic aspects. In particular, migration is a highly debated topic, which at a deeper level raises questions about fundamental values and rights, and about exclusion and inclusion. Two characteristics of the field of migration law are precisely that it by its nature crosses both national boundaries and traditional disciplines. The element of international law is of great importance, and migration law includes, among others, international law, public law, EU law, administrative law, procedural law and labor law. The research group therefore takes a broad approach to the field of migration law.

Thematic initiatives

One aim of the research group is to build on and strengthen the collaboration across the Faculty. This means making migration law central to issues far beyond what is normally conceived as migration research, e.g. refugee and asylum law. Examples of areas with a potential for strengthening migration law perspectives include:

Labor law: Employee mobility is a key part of the Norwegian labor market, and an important basis for changes in regulation of the Norwegian labor market. The Faculty has already participated in research in this field, but has the potential to be even stronger in this area.

Environmental law: Over the last 10 years approximately 25 million persons have annually become internally displaced due to climate-related disasters. In addition, those who cross national borders often do so because of e.g. persistent drought and ruined livelihoods. As sea levels rise, several states risk losing their territory. This presents the international community and nation states with major challenges in the years to come and will create a need for research-based knowledge.

Company law: International and national bodies increasingly place companies' responsibility on the exploitation of migrant workers. Exploitation of workers in other countries is an explicit theme of the Faculty’s SMART-project, but the issue of exploitation of migrants here in Norway also belongs in the intersection between migration law and company law. 

Relevant research topics include:

  • The mandate and role of UNHCR
  • The mandate and role of IOM
  • International responsibility and UNHCR/IOM
  • Global Compacts on Migrants/Refugees and other soft-law instruments on migration/refugees
  • Rights mobilization among refugees and migrants
  • Family reunification
  • Refugee resettlement (kvoteflyktninger)
  • Temporary protection regimes
  • Cessation of refugee status
  • Readmission agreements
  • Forced/voluntary return
  • Norway’s relation to EU Asylum law
  • Migrant workers’ rights in Norway (e.g. seasonal workers, Au pairs, workers from EU/EEA countries)
  • Detention issues, including children
  • Safe third country agreements
  • Internally displaced persons
  • Refugee recognition regimes
  • Exclusion from refugee status
  • Visa regimes
  • Legal aid in asylum procedures
  • Privatization/externalization of migration control
  • Extraterritorial processing of asylum claims
  • EU cooperation with third countries on migration and refugee rights
  • History of Norwegian immigration law
  • Human trafficking
  • People smuggling
  • Secondment of employees
  • Labour migration
  • The Au pair agreement
  • The Dublin regulation
  • The Schengen regulation
  • SOGIE (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression) refugees
  • Credibility assessment in asylum adjudication
  • Citizenship
  • Irregularised populations

Combining cutting-edge research and education

Some of the courses taught by researchers who are part of this research group include:

  •  A two-year Master's programme – Human Rights 
  • JUS5530 / JUR1530 – Refugee and Asylum Law
  • JUS5540 – Public International Law
  • JUS5134 – International Law of Peace
  • JUS5710 / JUR1710 – International Human Rights Law: Institutions and Procedures
  • JUS5910 / JUR1910 – Women’s Law and Human Rights
  • JUS5503 – Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism: Striking a Balance?
  • JUS5560 / JUR1560 – International Constitutional Law and Democracy
  • JUS5120 / JUR1120 - Utlendingsrett
  • JUS2111 – Statsforfatningsrett, folkerett og menneskerettigheter
  • HUMR5140 – Human Rights in International and National Law
  • HUMR5132 – Human Rights Law in Context
  • HUMR5502 – Dealing with Diversity: Human Rights Approaches to Ethnic Conflict
  • KRIM4953 / KRIM2953 – Criminological Perspectives on Gender, Sexuality and Violence
  • KRIM2952 / KRIM4952 – Criminology of Globalization
  • RSOS4950 / RSOS2950 – Torture, Surveillance and Rights
  • RSOS4952 / RSOS2952 – Law, Ideology and Human Rights Violations
  • ISSJF4711 – Human Rights (UiO International Summer School)
  • EDOLAD – European Joint Doctorate in Law & Development

Duration

The research group will be active from 2019 to 2022.

Participants

  • Maja Janmyr (chair)
  • May-Len Skilbrei (co-chair
  • Mads Andenæs
  • Cecilia Marcela Bailliet
  • Amanda Cellini
  • Dorina Damsa
  • Katja Franko
  • Hanna Vik Furuseth
  • Özlem Gürakar-Skribeland
  • Anne Hellum
  • Marianne Jenum Hotvedt
  • Ingunn Ikdahl
  • Stian Øby Johansen
  • Malcolm Langford
  • Kjersti Lohne
  • Anna Maria Charlotta Lundberg
  • Kristin Bergtora Sandvik
  • Beate Sjåfjell
  • Tone Linn Wærstad
  • Cathryn Costello
  • Mirjam Abigail Twigt
  • M Sanjeeb Hossain
  • Charlotte Lysa
  • Nora Milch

Host institute

Published Nov. 25, 2019 4:07 PM - Last modified May 3, 2023 3:54 PM