UNHCR Protection Manual - Related sources

This book represents a key outcome, particularly of the second track roundtable meetings and the Summary Conclusions resulting from them. It focuses in a detailed manner on discrete legal issues of interpretation of the 1951 Convention, bringing together the expert papers presented to the participants at the roundtable meetings and their conclusions. The authors were asked to make proposals to establish common understandings on key issues of Convention interpretation in order to promote greater consistency in the application of the Convention in the different jurisdictions of the world. They were also asked to factor into their analysis subsequent developments in international law of relevance to forced displacement.

This commentary provides valuable insights into the preparatory work of the 1951 Convention and the
circumstances surrounding its elaboration and opening for signature. This document helps us to see refugee law in its proper historical perspective and to identify its essential continuity.

This commentary provides the history of 1954 Statelessness Convention and its interpretation. It notes that the Statelessness Convention is largely modelled on the 1951 Refugee Convention. It is for this reason that the Commentary to this Convention makes frequent references to the discussion on the preparation of the Refugee Convention and deals in greater detail with the genesis of the articles of the Statelessness Convention.