Call for inputs for new UNHCR Handbook on Refugee Law – Volume on Criteria for Determining Refugee Status

UNHCR has launched a multi-year project to update and consolidate its core interpretive framework on refugee protection. The project will integrate and expand the 1979 Handbook and the 14 Guidelines into a new Handbook on Refugee Law that, in three volumes, will cover refugee status criteria, the rights of refugees under international law, and standards for procedures and evidence in refugee status determination.

In the context of the drafting of Volume 1 of the new UNHCR Handbook on Refugee Law, which will address the criteria for determining refugee status, UNHCR invites written inputs from interested stakeholders.

Background and purpose

Volume 1 of the new Handbook on Refugee Law will address the criteria for determining refugee status and is intended to serve as a key source of guidance on the interpretation of the refugee definition and related aspects of refugee status determination. As part of this process, UNHCR is seeking focused contributions that may assist in assessing how elements of the refugee definition are understood and applied in national law, jurisprudence, administrative practice, doctrine, and other relevant professional settings.

Who is invited to contribute

UNHCR welcomes submissions from States, judges and judicial actors, legal practitioners, academics, national human rights institutions, civil society organizations, refugee-led organizations, and other stakeholders with relevant legal, policy, operational, or lived experience concerning the interpretation and application of refugee definitions. Contributors are encouraged to draw, where possible, on concrete examples from their own jurisdiction, region, professional practice, or area of expertise.

Scope of inputs sought

Submissions are invited on the interpretation and application of Article 1 of the 1951 Convention and, where relevant, the refugee definitions contained in applicable regional instruments, for the purpose of informing Volume 1 of the new Handbook on Refugee Law, which will address the criteria for determining refugee status.

Contributions may address legislation, regulations, judicial decisions, administrative guidance, policy documents, doctrine, country practice, and other relevant materials. UNHCR would particularly welcome inputs that identify significant interpretative approaches, recurring legal questions, areas of doctrinal development, and aspects of the refugee definition on which additional clarification in the volume may be useful.

Questions

To facilitate focused and comparable contributions, respondents may wish to address some or all of the following questions.

1. Please describe how Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention is interpreted and applied in your national jurisdiction(s) or field(s) of practice or interest.
2. Where relevant, please indicate how regional refugee definition instruments are interpreted and applied in your country or region of interest, including any interaction between the 1951 Convention definition and broader regional standards.
3. Please identify any significant legislation, regulations, policy guidance, jurisprudence, or administrative instructions that shape the interpretation of the refugee definition in your context of interest.
4. Please explain whether there are recurring interpretative questions or points of divergence in your jurisdiction of interest concerning key elements of the refugee definition.
5. Please provide examples of good practices in administrative and judicial decision-making on the interpretation and application of the refugee definition.
6. Please indicate whether and how national practice addresses claims related to contemporary or emerging forms of harm.
7. Please provide, where possible, references to publicly available legal sources, judgments, policy documents, or academic materials that may assist UNHCR in assessing the issues identified.
8. Please include any additional observations arising from your professional, judicial, academic, governmental, civil society, or refugee-led experience that may help illuminate how the refugee definition operates in practice.

Submission modalities

Submissions should:

• be sent by 15 September 2026, 23:59 CEST to [email protected], with the subject line “Volume 1 – Handbook – [name of contributor]”.
• preferably be in English or alternatively, in French
• where possible, identify the author or organization, the jurisdiction or context addressed, and any materials cited.

Respondents may address all the questions listed above or only those most relevant to their expertise and experience.

Use of submissions

Submissions received in response to this call will be reviewed by UNHCR as part of the drafting process for Volume 1 of the new Handbook on Refugee Law. UNHCR may draw on the information and analysis received in its internal assessment and drafting work.

This call for inputs does not constitute a negotiated drafting process. It should not be understood as creating a process in which each submission will receive an individual response or in which all views expressed will necessarily be reflected in the volume. UNHCR will determine, in accordance with its internal approach and any applicable considerations of confidentiality, whether submissions will be published, listed, summarized, or used solely for internal purposes.