Dr Kathryn Allinson
BA (Hons), LLM, PhD
Expertise
Researcher in state responsibility, international humanitarian, human rights and refugee law. My particular interests lie in responses to crises in relation to forced displacement and the protection of vulnerable people.
Current positions
Lecturer in Law
University of Bristol Law School
Contact
Press and media
Many of our academics speak to the media as experts in their field of research. If you are a journalist, please contact the University’s Media and PR Team:
Biography
My particular interests lie in humanitarian responses to crises, in relation to forced migration and the protection of socio-economic human rights in development or conflict. My PhD on ‘Establishing responsibility for causing displacement: An inquiry into the role of ‘Displacing Third States’’ was awarded in January 2021 at Queen Mary University of London.
I am Lecturer in Law at the University of Bristol, teaching international, migration and human rights law. I am also a Researcher on the Horizon 2020 PROTECT project led by Professor Elspeth Guild. In this role I have contributed to a number of commentaries and blogs on the Global Compact on Migration, as well as publishing widely on the topic and producing a Handbook for Legal Practitioners on The Global Compact on Migration.
I am the Managing Editor of the peer-reviewed journal The International Community Law Review.
Research interests
Kathryn's research concerns the establishment of state responsibility for breaches of international law focussing on the interaction of human rights and humanitarian law in relation to displacement, and the protection of socio-economic human rights during conflict. Specific interests includes issues of causation, attribution and jurisdiction as well as treaty interpretation and the fragmentation of international law.
Kathryn has a PhD from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) for her thesis entitled: 'Establishing responsibility for causing displacement: An inquiry into the role of ‘Displacing Third States.' It provides a nuanced understanding of today’s realities of population displacement due to armed conflict. The research addresses the imbalance between States that engage in displacement-generating activities whilst simultaneously denying responsibility for refugees. Kathryn has presented her research at numerous international confereces including: the Refugee Law Initiative (RLI) Conference in 2018-2022; at the Society for Legal Scholars in 2018, the SLSA in 2021 and at postgraduate conferences at the University of Liverpool, Edinburgh and Queen Mary. She completed a visting fellowship at the University of Bristol in 2019.
Kathryn is a Research Affiliate of the Refugee Law Initiative and a Researcher on the Horizon 2020 PROTECT project. She has published five peer-reviewed journal articles, a number of chapters in edited volumes and writes topical blogs on legal developments in the field of migration and international law. She has also published numerous commentaries on the Global Compact on Migration. Kathryn has presented on the Global Compact at conferences at the Zoldberg Institute in New York, at the Migration Centre in Geneva and the University of Geneva as well as convening workshops with NGOs, CSOs and practitioners in London and Geneva on implementation of the Global Compacts.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
State Responsibility and Displacement in Armed Conflict
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
University of Bristol Law SchoolDates
31/08/2024 to 31/08/2026
Publications
Selected publications
12/04/2022The UN Global Compacts and the Common European Asylum System: Coherence or Friction?
Laws
Implementing the UN Global Compacts for Refugees and Migrants in Times of Pandemic
European Yearbook on Human Rights
Recent publications
08/02/2024Editorial: Forms and functions of soft norms and informal law-making in international migration law: a different frontier
Frontiers in Human Dynamics
Making a global compact
Research Handbook on the Institutions of Global Migration Governance
Unlawful deportations and House of Lords amendments: What now for people seeking asylum in the UK?
Why the Illegal Migration Bill will not ‘Stop the Boats’
Can The UK Be Held Accountable for Breaches of the Human Rights of Asylum-Seekers Transferred to Rwanda?
Teaching
Currently teaching Trusts Law, General Principles of International Law, International Law and Human Rights and International Law and Armed Conflict.
Will supervise research in state responsibility, human rights and humanitarian law compliance during armed conflict, refugee and migration law, accountability mechanisms for breaches of international law, including international criminal law.
