Research Program & Recent Publications
I use doctrinal review and empirical, social science research methods in an approach to international legal theory that documents, visualises, and compares how international law norms flow through, and are contested within, transnational legal systems in their eventual application to individuals. The overarching theme of my work tackles complex – and often hidden – problems in refugee and human rights law and policy through the generation of original data and analysis to inform and influence policy implementation and development. My work is comparative in focus and links the fields of International Refugee Law, International Human Rights Law, and Administrative Law, while drawing interdisciplinary connections with Public Policy and Sociology.
Jefferies, R and Hager, K, ‘Learning from the Past: Governing Transboundary Nooksack River Flooding’ (Border Policy Brief, Vol 18, Border Policy Research Institute)
Jefferies, R, McAdam, J and Pillai, S, “Can We Still Call Australia Home?: The Right to Return and the Legality of Australia’s COVID-19 Travel Restrictions” 27 (2) Australian Journal of Human Rights
Golder, B, Hush, A, Jefferies, R, Johns, F, and Nolan, J, ‘Foreword’ (2021) 27 Australian Journal of Human Rights 399
Jefferies, R, ‘Bringing Externalisation Home: The International Civil Aviation Organization and “Entry Screening” in Australia’ (2021) Globalizations
Selected Publications
This article situates Transnational Legal Process (TLP) within the broader literature on international legal compliance and traces the theory’s evolution over the years, highlighting scholarship which addresses three critical theoretical limitations: (1) insufficient description of the actors and processes of norm internalization; (2) insufficient explanation of why States internalize certain norms; and (3) insufficient identification and description of norm-creation processes.
This article reveals a set of policy and procedural instructions, recently released by the Department of Home Affairs (‘DHA’) under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth), which establishes the administrative process of
‘entry screening’.
This Policy Brief examines how different countries have dealt with international protection needs during the pandemic and provides guidance moving forward. It does so by examining the pre-pandemic use of airport asylum procedures in seven different countries (Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Germany, Uganda and the United States), as well as those countries’ subsequent use of border restrictions and/or closures in response to COVID-19.
This Policy Brief critically analyses the legal and operational framework for handling protection claims made by people at Australian airports in light of Australia’s international protection obligations. It also examines the domestic legal framework which is claimed to provide the basis for airport screening procedures and through which Australia’s protection obligations are supposed to be given effect.
This article explores the legal compliance consequences of poor data quality through an information systems lens.
As refugee and asylum policy become increasingly subordinated to (and deemed incompatible with) state sovereignty and national security, gaining access to government officials and legal processes for the purpose of academic research faces serious challenges.
