‘INDIVIDUAL THREAT’ AND THE QUALIFICATION

CRITERIA FOR INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION

IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

Seminar and Roundtable

THE REFUGEE LAW READER

May 16, 2008

AGENDA

8:45 – 9:00 Welcome and Introduction

Rosemary Byrne, Senior Lecturer, Trinity College; Editor-In-Chief, The Refugee Law
Reader

9:00 – 11:00 First Session: Interpreting Individual Threat: The 1951 Convention and The
Qualification Directive

Speakers:
 Adriano Silvestri, Legal Officer, Protection Operations and Legal Advice Section,
UNHCR
 Stefan Kok, Head of Policy Unit, Dutch Refugee Council
Roundtable Discussion

11:00 – 11:30 Coffee Break

11:30 – 13:00 Second Session: Individual Threat: Assessing the Evidence

Speakers:
 Gábor Gyulai, Program Coordinator and Training Officer, Hungarian Helsinki
Committee
 Rosemary Byrne, Senior Lecturer, Trinity College; Editor-In-Chief, The Refugee Law
Reader
 Jens Vedsted-Hansen, Professor, University of Aarhus; Editor, The Refugee Law
Reader

Roundtable Discussion

13:00 – 14:00 Lunch

14:00 – 15:15 Third Session: Jurisprudence on Individualization – Cases of the European Court of
Justice, European Court of Human Rights, and the Committee against Torture

Speakers:
 Nuala Mole, Director, Advice on Individual Rights in Europe (AIRE Center)
 Elspeth Guild, Professor, University of Nijmegen; Editor, The Refugee Law Reader

Roundtable Discussion

15:15 – 15:45 Coffee Break

15:45 – 17:15 Fourth Session: Roundtable Discussion: Individual Threat in Context: Obstacles to the
Implementation of European Asylum Law

17:15 – 17:30 Closing Remarks