TE PIRINGA- FACULTY OF LAW
Immigration and Refugee Law 2014Outline
1.Identification of Paper
Paper: LAWS417 14 S
This paper carries 20 points
2.Staffing
Doug Tennent Phone:838 6731
(Convenor)Room: G. 21
email:
Generally available throughout the course.
3.Description and Structure of Paper
A detailed examination of Immigration and Refugee Law as applied in the New Zealand context.
(b) Structure of the Paper
Lectures
Tuesday 10.00a.m.- 12.00 p.m. S1.02
1.00 p.m. – 3.00 p.m. S1.02
Friday 10.00 a.m. - 12.00 a.m. S 1.05
1.00 p.m. -3.00 p.m. S 1.05
There will be one (1) optional tutorial each week. Details about this will be given at the
first lecture.
(c) Attendance
Te Piringa - Faculty of Law places great emphasis on providing students with opportunities for high achievement in law papers. This however requires students to attend and actively participate in classes. For this reason there is a requirement that students are to attend 75 per cent of the classes in order to complete the course. A regular role will be kept of attendance. The idea of the optional tutorial is to consolidate what has been covered in the lecture topics
4.Learning outcomes
A student who has successfully completed this paper should have the necessary foundation to embark in practice in this area. This is done through:
- students becoming familiar with the complexities of the Immigration Act 2009 and other
relevant pieces of legislation which impact on Immigration Law;
- students becoming aware of the complexity of Immigration Instructions;
- students becoming aware of the complexities and challenges in determining refugee and
protected person status;
-students appreciating the issues involved when advocating in a humanitarian appeal against
deportation;
-students starting to develop the skills for advocating for people who apply for visas in
special circumstances when they are living in New Zealand unlawfully;
- students coming to appreciate how the rights arising out of citizenship can be used to advance
cases for certain appellants.
It is not expected that students will be experts in these different areas. What is expected is that students should be familiar with the law and issues surrounding the law and have the necessary skills to enquire and research further in the different areas.
5.Workload
Students should expect to spend 200 hours in total on this paper. In addition to lecture attendance, significant time will need to be spent on background and complementary reading. Students should allow for periods of more-focused research time in the preparation of assignments.
6.Required and Recommended Reading
All law students are required to purchase, for use in all law papers, a copy of McLay, Murray & Orpin, New Zealand Law Style Guide, 2nd edition, Thomson Reuters (2011). This is available from Bennetts, at an approximate price of $37 incl GST.
In addition to the texts identified below, the Faculty of Law requires that student’s purchase the course materials book(s) for this paper. These are available from Waikato Print.
Relevant Text: D Tennent Immigration and Refugee Law (2014) Lexis Nexis Second Edition.
Further material may be provided on the paper site on Moodle ( Universityof Waikato’sonline learning system. Any such material is provided on the followingterms:
University of Waikato owns the intellectual property rights, including copyright, in and to this site, or has acquired the necessary licenses to display the material on the site. As a student of the Te Piringa - Faculty of Law, you are granted a limited license to use (access, display or print a single copy) the material from the papers in which you are enrolled for the purposes of participating in the paper only, provided the information is not modified. Materials may not under any circumstances be copied, stored, distributed or provided in any form or method whatsoever to any third party. Any other use of the material is prohibited. None of the material may be otherwise reproduced, reformatted, republished or re-disseminated in any manner or form without the prior written consent of University of Waikato. To obtain such consent, please contact the Te Piringa - Faculty of Law.
Two important websites for this paper are:
-website for Immigration New Zealand
-website for Immigration and Protection Tribunal:
7.Online support
Online support for this paper is provided via Moodle.
8.Assessment
a)Requirements for assessed work
Te Piringa - Faculty of Law procedures for the presentation, submission and referencing of course work are set out in the Te Piringa - Faculty of Law Undergraduate Handbook @ p.51 which is available from See also page 66 on plagiarism. Also refer to paragraph 12 in this document.
An assignment template document including coversheet is availableon the Law Student Homepage
b)Coursework: Final Examination Ratio: 1:0
c)Assessment Components
ComponentPercentage of overall markDue date
1. Assignmentfocused 25% 23rd January (9.00 a.m.)
on the issuing of visas
in special circumstances
-6 pages
2. major considering the 30% 7th February (5.00 p.m.)
difference between
refugee and protected
person status
3. A written submission 35% 20th February (9.00 a.m.)
for an appeal against
deportation on
humanitarian grounds. (10 pages)
4. Class attendance 10%
- The first assignment will require the writing of a written submission applying for the
granting of a visa in special circumstances.
- The second assignment will focus on the difference between refugee and protected
person status.
- The third assignment will be a written submission for a humanitarian appeal against
the deportation of a person who is unlawfully in New Zealand.
All three assignments have a practical focus which reflects the practical emphasis being given to the course.
d)Handing in, marking time and collection
All assignments must be submitted electronically through Moodle ( and include a coversheet. The coversheet template is provided on the Law Student Homepage ( See Te Piringa - Faculty of Law Undergraduate Handbook, available at It is the policy of Te Piringa - Faculty of Law to return marked work to students within five weeks of submission.
If you require assistance with Moodle, or encounter any problems, please contact the Help Desk. You can send a message to Help Desk by using the instant message service in your paper (from the participants list within the People block). Alternatively, you can email them directly at or call 838 4008.
e)Measurement of Achievement
Achievement in examinations and tests will be measured primarily in terms of levels of understanding and knowledge gained. Achievement in assignments will be measured also in terms of fluency and accuracy of expression and referencing.
Major deficiencies in structure, style, grammar and spelling will result in lower marks.
f)Management of assessment deadlines, process for requesting extensions and special consideration, and for appeals
(i)Extensions
Students are required to complete and submit all internal assessments by specified dates. The meeting of deadlines is a mark of professionalism and its enforcement is essential for fairness to all students taking the paper. Handing in course work on or before the due date also facilitates the timely return of marked work by academic staff. Students should meet requirements as to time deadlines for course work, or make a request for an extension or special consideration in appropriate circumstances (see Undergraduate Programmes Manual available from the School of Law Undergraduate website Failure to comply with requirements as to the time deadlines for internal assessment without having successfully applied either for an extension or special consideration with supporting evidence before the due date will result in deduction of 2.5 marks for each day the work is late. Lateness of more than a week may result in the work not being marked. No deadlines may be extended beyond two weeks after the last teaching day of the semester(s) in which the paper is taught as final grades must go to the Board of Examiners at this time. Unless an extension in writing has been granted, a lecturer may refuse to accept a piece of work which is submitted after the specified date, and automatically award it no mark, or may lower the mark as a penalty for lateness.
Applications for extension, on the form obtainable from the Law Reception, must be submitted to the Chief Examiner or nominee. Students should not submit the extension form to the lecturer, nor should students seek extensions from the lecturer via other forms of communication. Extensions will be granted only on evidence of illness, family bereavement, or serious personal accidents or circumstances. Please note that too many assignments due at the same time is NOT an acceptable reason, neither are claims that computers and/or printers have crashed. Account will be taken of the time in which the student has had to complete the internal assessment before the intervening event occurred. It will be important to consider if the grant of the extension will give the student in question an unfair advantage over other students. A maximum period of 14 days will be given as an extension unless there are exceptional circumstances. In determining applications the Chief Examiner or nominee may consult with the Convenor or lecturer of the relevant paper.
When the Chief Examiner or nominee has made a decision on the application for extension, the nominated Administrative Assistant will advise the student of the decision by email. Following this, the extension form will be given to the relevant lecturer who will retain it until after the assignment is marked and returned to students. The form will then be placed on the student’s file. It should be noted that if an extension of longer than 14 days is granted, the assignment will not be automatically printed out and delivered to the lecturer, therefore the lecturer is responsible for ensuring the assignment is printed. In appropriate cases, when a student’s application for extension is declined the Chief Examiner or nominee will inform the student of the process for applying for special consideration.
ii)Special Consideration
The Assessment Regulations 2005 as set out in the University Calendar 2014 list in detail the university-wide policies and procedures, which apply concerning missed examinations, impaired performance or impaired preparation time for an examination, and missed or impaired course work. Students are responsible for ensuring that they comply with these regulations. Application forms for special consideration for internal assessment are available from law reception.
iii)Appeals (University Calendar 2014, Assessment Regulations 2005, Reg. 24)
A student may appeal against any decision taken under these regulations.
An appeal, comprising a written statement of the circumstances of the appeal, together with supporting evidence if available, must be submitted by the student in writing to the Head of Student & Academic Services not more than seven days after the date on which notification of the relevant decision is received.
Appeals under this section are considered and decided by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor by delegated authority of the Academic Programmes Committee.
A decision by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor is notified in writing, and is final.
iv) No electronic devices are allowed in anyinternal test or exams.
v) If you wish to submit your Internal Assessment in Māori, you need to obtain an application
form from the Law Reception at least 14 days before the assessment is due.
vi) If you wish to apply to write your official exams in Māori, you need to complete the official
application form from the University’s Assessment Office.
(refer to the Policy on the Use of Māori for Assessment in the University Calendar)
9.University Calendar Regulations and Policies
Your attention is drawn to the following regulations and policies, which are published in the University Calendar 2014:
Assessment Regulations 2005
Student Discipline Regulations 2008
Computer Systems Regulations 2005
Policy on the Use of Māori for Assessment
Student Research Regulations 2008
Ethical Conduct in Human Research and Related Activities Regulations 2008.
10.Links to other papers
Immigration and Refugee Law has direct links to Administrative Law, International Law and International Human Rights.
11.Fees
Refer to .
12.Referencing guidelines and caution against plagiarism
(a) Referencing must be in accordance with the New Zealand Law Style Guide(2nd Ed)
Thomson Reuters 2011.
(b) All written work submitted for the purposes of assessment must be your own work. Copying or paraphrasing all or part of another person’s work, be it published or unpublished, without clear attribution, is plagiarism. Plagiarism is misconduct and is dealt with under the disciplinary procedures of the University as outlined in the Student Discipline Regulations 2008 in the University Calendar.
“Plagiarism means presenting as one’s own work the work of another, and includes the copying or paraphrasing of another person’s work in an assessment item without acknowledging it as the other person’s work through full and accurate referencing; it applies to assessment presented through a written, spoken, electronic, broadcasting, visual, performance or other medium.” See section 3, Assessment Regulations (2014 Calendar)
(c)The Te Piringa - Faculty of Law’s policy regarding plagiarism is contained in the Te Piringa - Faculty of Law Undergraduate Handbook and the Te Piringa - Faculty of LawUndergraduate Programmes Manual, available from
13.Health and safety
The Law School’s Health and Safety representative is Ms Alison Saunders who is in Room Law G.44 at ext 4167.
14.Class representation
See p.43 Te Piringa - Faculty of Law Undergraduate Handbook available from Contact details for the Student Representation Coordinator, Academic Services Division, are as follows: Jeanie Richards, Student Services, ext. 8221, email: .
15.Complaints procedures
The brochure Student Concerns and Complaints Policy provides details of the University’s process for handling concerns and complaints and is available from Faculty and School Offices, The Gateway and Student Services Division and is contained in the Calendar 2014.See also the document Student Support Structure at Te Piringa - Faculty of Law, available from law reception.
Lecture Schedule Summer School1
Week Commencing / Programme of lecture topics6 January (Summer semester 1 begins6 January)
7 January 10.00-12.00
1.00-3.00 p.m.
9 January 10.00-12.00 a.m.
1.00- 3.00 p.m. / General administration and overview of the course.
The importance and relevance of international law to Immigration and Refugee Law.
Statutory requirement for being lawfully
present in New Zealand. The issuing of
visas noting those people who are not entitled to receive a visa. Commence
discussion on visas and entry permission.
The issuing of visas having specific
regard for residence visas focusing on the
Skilled Migrant category.
13 January
14 January 10.00- 12.00 a.m.
1.00-3.00 p.m.
16 January 10.00-12.00 a.m.
1.00- 3.00 p.m. / The issuing of visas in special circumstances. (s 61)
Citizenship
Citizenship
i)Conclude Citizenship
ii)The implications of being unlawfully in New Zealand and
Turnaround at Airport
20 January
21 January 10.00- 12.00 a.m.
1.00- 3.00 p.m.
23January 10.00 -12.00 a.m.
1.00p.m.-3.00 p.m. / i)Refugee Status
ii)Refugee Status
Refugee Status
Protected Person Status
27 January Anniversary Day
28 January 10.00- 12.00
1.00- 3.00
30 January 10.00- 12.00
1.00- 3.00 / Protected Person Status
i)Conclude Protected Person
status;
ii) Refugee and Protected Person determinations.
3 February
4 February 10.00- 12.00
1.00- 3.00 p.m.
6 February Waitangi Day / Deportation
Deportation
10 February
11February 10.00 – 12.00
1.00-2.00 p.m.
13 February 10.00-12.00 a.m.
1.00- 3.00 p.m. / Deportation
i)Complete Deportation.
ii)The Statutory Appeal process.
Judicial Review and classified information.
Bringing together the course and concluding comments.
17 February
19 February / Third Assignment due
Assignment 1 Visa / Due 23rd January 9.00 p.m.
Assignment 2 Refugee and Protected Person / Due 7th February 5.00 p.m.
Assignment 3 Deportation / Due 20 February 9.00 a.m.
Note
Two films will be shown during the course. These are:
Romero;
The Killing Fields.
Both films illustrate how the sustained and systemic breach of human rights leads to exodus of refugees. The films will be shown at appropriate times during the course. They are both graphic.
1