https://studiegids.vu.nl/en/courses/2024-2025/R_STMRLAfter completing this course, the student 1. has profound and specialist knowledge of international and European refugee and family reunification law; 2. has insight into the relationship between international, regional, and national refugee and family reunification law, and their relationship with human rights law; 3. can assess and discuss legal and societal aspects of refugee and family reunification law, in a critical manner; 4. can approach refugee and family migration issues from both a migration law and a human rights law perspective; 5. can interpret, analyse, and critically discuss scholarly and legal texts; 6. can analyse and critically discuss the interplay between rules and individual decisions; 7. can analyse complex refugee and family migration law cases; 8. can signal, analyse, and offer solutions for complex issues in refugee and family reunification law; 9. can, on an individual basis and in accordance with academic standards, do research on a refugee law and/or family migration law issue and present the results in writing; 10. can provide fellow students with relevant and useful feedback on academic writing assignments.This course deals with family reunification and refugee law in the light of international and regional legal regimes as well as selected national policies and case-law. We will pay attention to African, American, Asian and European national and regional systems. However, given the geographic location of this course, and as the EU is a supranational system with a lot of legislation on migration, there will be an emphasis on Europe. The course explains the multi-layered structure of family reunification and refugee law, maps the international, regional and national actors involved and traces the horizontal, vertical, and diagonal relationships between them. Furthermore, the course analyses and critically discusses the tension between state sovereignty and individual interests and human rights. Finally, the interplay between migration flows, perceived effects on society, migration law and the dynamics of policy change in these areas are examined.The course will be taught in weekly classes, wherein obligatory reading will be discussed and in-class assignments will be made. In addition to these weekly lectures, exam training sessions and research seminars will be provided. Students should prepare themselves thoroughly for each class by studying the required readings and providing feedback on one of the required readings. Further, students have to write a paper on refugee or family reunification law, and provide feedback on drafts of fellow students.- Two oral exams- A paperRequired readings will be published on Canvas.Students with a bachelor's degree in law from VU University or fromanother Dutch or accredited non-Dutch university. Exceptionally, alsostudents with a bachelor degree in another subject with 60 ECTS of lawcourses or students with considerable experience in the field of law maybe admitted.Knowledge of key concepts of European Union and international public lawis assumed in class. A knowledge clip introducing these key concepts isavailable.