The principle of non-refoulement and the United Nations Human Rights Treaties

Wednesday, 2 December 2026, 5pm to 6pm

About this talk
The principle of non-refoulement is a cornerstone of international human rights protection, prohibiting the transfer of individuals to places where they face a real risk of torture, persecution, or other serious human rights violations. Yet the principle is currently under significant political pressure, particularly in Europe, where recent initiatives, including the Chişinǎu Declaration issued by Council of Europe member states, reflect growing pressure on the European Court of Human Rights to reconsider the scope of states’ obligations. At the same time, the eight United Nations human rights treaty bodies receive the largest number of human rights complaints about non-refoulement, generating an extensive body of jurisprudence.
Against this backdrop, this seminar examines how the principle has been interpreted and applied by the United Nations human rights treaty bodies under the UN human rights treaties, highlighting the contributions of UN human rights treaties to the protection of the principle of non-refoulement.

About the speaker
Başak Çalı is Professor of International Law at the University of Oxford, and Head of Research at the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights. She is the lead editor of Migration and the European Convention on Human Rights (OUP, 2021) and has just completed the three-year German Science Council-funded research project Leading Cases in UN Human Rights Law which examines the contributions of the decisions of the eight UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies to international human rights law jurisprudence.

Term: Michaelmas, Week 8

Series: Refugee Studies Centre Events

Venue: Queen Elizabeth House - Seminar Room 1
Seminar Room 1 Queen Elizabeth House 4 Mansfield Road Oxford Oxfordshire OX1 3TB United Kingdom

Department: International Development (Department)

Host: Refugee Studies Centre