The UNHCR and the Enforcement of Refugee Protection before International Courts: Amicus and Third-Party Submissions before the ECtHR

Headshot of Hilkka C.  Becker

McLaughlin College International Lecture presented by Hilkka C. Becker This presentation will outline the potential wider application of UNHCR’s amicus role in refugee cases before international courts. Using the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), as the prime example, it will explore the impact of the UNHCR’s interventions on the evolution and development of international refugee law in Europe and conclude with the assessment of the use of strategic litigation by the UNHCR in fulfilling its supervisory role in the advancement of refugee protection. HILKKA C. BECKER is the Chairperson of the International Protection Appeals Tribunal since April 2017. She was previously a Deputy Chairperson of the Tribunal and served as a part-time Member of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal from 2013 to 2016. Hilkka is a lawyer with over 20 years professional experience specialising in asylum, migration and human rights law.

She also holds an Advanced Diploma in Data Protection Law from The Honorable Society of King’s Inns (2021) and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Employment Law from University College Dublin (2004). She is registered to practise in Germany since 1998 and is a practising solicitor in Ireland since 2003. She has acted in immigration, EU free movement, refugee and citizenship law before the superior courts in Ireland as well as before the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union. Hilkka is an experienced trainer and public speaker and teaches at the Law Society of Ireland. She is an active member of the International Association of Refugee and Migration Judges (IARMJ) and of the Justice and Home Affairs Group and of the Germany Group of the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA); she is a Fellow of McLaughlin College at York University, Toronto, and with the Common Purpose Meridian Programme for Senior Leaders alumni 2018.

The event is co-sponsored and hosted by the Office of the College Head and Human Rights Watch (HRW).