Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen is guest editor of The Nordic Journal of International Law. The journal will publish a special issue on "Nordic visions of international migration and refugee law" in conjunction with Nordic Branding. We welcome contributions that engage Nordic asylum and immigration regulation as an issue of international law.
As an area of international law which both currently and historically has held special significance to the Nordic countries, the special issue will investigate Nordic narratives of international migration and refugee law, the domestic interpretations and applications of international norms, as well as Nordic responses to legal and adjudicatory developments at the European and international levels. The special issue invites papers that engage on the below theme based on different methods and theories of international law, including comparative legal analysis, empirical legal methods and critical legal theory.
Background
Nordic asylum and immigration laws are undergoing significant transformations these years. Traditionally seen as liberal front-runners in regard to refugees and human mobility, Nordic countries were among the first to sign the 1951 Refugee Convention and through the 1952 Nordic Passport Union pioneered free movement decades before other European countries. During the last 20 years, however, all Nordic countries have introduced wide-ranging amendments to their asylum and immigration laws - generally in a more restrictive direction, and in several cases pioneering internationally unique measures in regard to e.g. temporary protection, family reunification, cessation, border closures and third country partnerships. The shift has not gone unnoticed. Various Nordic countries have in recent years found themselves in the international spotlight, and multiple cases concerning Nordic asylum and immigration law have appeared before international courts and human rights bodies. Regulatory responses to recent events, including both the 2015 European asylum influx and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, have further significantly impacted both Nordic and European rules on free movement.
The questions this special issue seek to answer include, but are not limited to, the following:
- What role do and have Nordic countries play(ed) in shaping European and international refugee and migration law? What specific contributions have Nordic countries made to international law and policymaking in this area?
- How do Nordic countries interpret and apply international refugee and migration law as a matter of domestic law and decision-making? Are there specific Nordic narratives of international law in this area?
- How have Nordic countries and legal institutions responded to the growing role of international courts and supervisory mechanisms involved in migration and refugee law? What kind of legal strategies do Nordic countries apply when engaging with e.g. the European Court of Human Rights, the Court of Justice of the European Union and the UN human rights bodies in regard to asylum and immigration issues?
- What position(s) do Nordic countries occupy in regard to EU rules on free movement, asylum and immigration law and policy? How do different attachments to and implications of EU law across the Nordic countries impact asylum and immigration policies in the Nordic region?
- How have Nordic countries responded to major events impacting human mobility and immigration regulation, including the 2015 European asylum crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic?
- What role can and should Nordic countries, individually and as a collective region, play in respect of current and upcoming legal reform processes at the European and international level? How do domestic asylum and migration law impact the external perception and standing of Nordic countries?
Deadlines
Contributors are requested to send a title and abstract of maximum 150 words to the guest editor, Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen no later than 15 February 2021. Full articles are due 1 July 2021 and revisions by 1 September 2021.
The special issue will be published in the Nordic Journal of International Law as issue 4, Volume 90, 2021.
