Procedural fairness in asylum appeal hearings through a structure and agency lens

Cooper, Lauren 2021. Procedural fairness in asylum appeal hearings through a structure and agency lens. PhD Thesis, Cardiff Univeristy. Item availability restricted.

Preview	PDF - Accepted Post-Print Version Download (1MB) | Preview
	PDF (Cardiff University Electronic Publication Form) - Supplemental Material Restricted to Repository staff only Download (129kB)

Abstract

Asylum seekers are uniquely vulnerable; they often have little knowledge of the English language or legal process and have few country, family, or support networks to help guide them through it. The UK is bound by international law to protect this group, but whilst it may be following the letter of its international obligations, it may not always act in accordance with the spirit in which these obligations were made in order to provide access to justice for those seeking protection. This thesis investigates whether there is space for asylum seekers to assert agency in their asylum appeal, highlighting some of the structures which hinder or facilitate this ability. In so doing, the thesis responds to broader issues of procedural fairness and access to justice, with a focus on effective communication. It presents a theoretically and empirically grounded investigation into procedural fairness in the asylum appeal hearing, through a structure and agency lens, and contributes to the fields of refugee law, communication studies, and empirical legal research by improving understanding of the procedural challenges and legal structures faced by asylum seekers in their appeal hearing. A multi-method approach of 90 court observations and 21 semi-structured interviews is used in an attempt to apply structuration theory to a non-ideal society to investigate procedural fairness and access to justice in asylum appeal hearings. This allowed for an understanding of the meanings, understandings, and experiences that asylum seekers attach to procedural fairness and access to justice, and an exploration of how these experiences intersect with the behaviours and experiences of other actors within the process; considering whether the right to a fair hearing is undermined by increasingly hostile policies and barriers to agency. It is argued that, whilst legal structures, hostile policies, and the agency of others work to constrain the ability of the asylum seeker to assert agency in their appeal, they are able to carve out space to communicate effectively, through access to effective interpretation and legal representation, and by using the resources available to them, thus enhancing the likelihood of a fair hearing and access to justice.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Date Type:	Completion
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Law
Subjects:	K Law > K Law (General)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Structure and Agency Structuration Theory Rawls Justice as Fairness Language Communication Interpretation Socio-legal studies Empirical legal research Qualitative research Access to justice Legal Representation
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	4 April 2023
Last Modified:	06 Jan 2024 02:20
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/158372

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item