Non-signatory states in international refugee law
Maja Janmyr (Professor of International Migration Law at the University of Oslo)
Wednesday, 26 November 2025, 5pm to 6pm
Seminar Room 1, Oxford Department of International Development, 3 Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3TB
RSC Public Seminar Series, Michaelmas term 2025
Series convened by Professor Tom Scott-Smith and Professor Catherine Briddick
About this talk
Since its adoption, the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees has been central to scholarship on refugee and asylum issues. Yet, many states, including some hosting major refugee populations, are not parties to either the Convention or to its 1967 Protocol. Introducing the edited collection Non-Signatory States in International Refugee Law (Brill, 2025), this talk aims to capture and discuss essential aspects in the study of non-signatory states. It unpacks the ways in which diverse critical perspectives and methodological eclecticism are needed to understand the relation between these states and the international refugee regime. It explores how international refugee law is reshaped when actors in non-signatory states engage with its norms, and how national legal and protection landscapes are reconfigured as part of the process. Overall, the talk demonstrates how the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol play an important role in shaping responses to refugees in many non-signatory states. International refugee law manifests itself in myriad ways in these states, and these states in turn contribute to its further development.
About the speaker
Maja Janmyr is Professor of International Migration Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Oslo. Focusing mainly on Lebanon and the broader Middle East, Janmyr’s work takes a historical and socio-legal approach to international law, examining in particular how refugees and asylum-seekers understand and engage with legal norms and institutions, and how international refugee law is interpreted and implemented in local contexts. She is a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Refugee Law and is chair of the University of Oslo’s Scholars at Risk committee. Janmyr has received several awards and recognitions for her work, including the Fridtjof Nansen medal of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. She has lead several large research projects, and currently holds a Starting Grant from the European Research Council for the project “Protection without Ratification? International Refugee Law beyond States Parties to the 1951 Refugee Convention (BEYOND)” (2021-2026).
The seminar will be followed by drinks in the Hall.
Registration not required.
All enquiries should be directed to rsc-outreach@qeh.ox.ac.uk