Arbitrary detention of asylum seekers: a comparison of some recent practice from Italy and the UK
Dr Daniel Wilsher (City University London) and Francesca Cancellaro (Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna)
Wednesday, 28 May 2014, 5pm to 6.30pm
Seminar Room 1, Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford, 3 Mansfield Road, OX1 3TB
A podcast of this seminar is now available.
The detention of asylum seekers is always particularly controversial. The Saadi v UK decision of the Strasbourg Court was much criticised for condoning administrative detention of asylum seekers. It did, however, impose apparently strict legal constraints on such detention. Nevertheless, in that time, executive practice in Europe has evolved in ways that arguably further undermine these constraints. This seminar will consider practices in the UK under the detained fast-track system and in Italy on the island of Lampedusa to assess the current state of detention and its compliance with the rule of law.
about the speakers
Dr Daniel Wilsher was previously a solicitor working in immigration law. He is now Senior Lecturer in law at City University London, working on EU and immigration detention issues. He also sits as a judge in the First-tier Tribunal (Asylum and Immigration Chamber).
Francesca Cancellaro is a PhD candidate in Criminal law at Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna. In 2013 she was admitted to the Italian Bar. Her research interests include criminal law, immigration detention and penitentiary systems.