Caught between justice and injustice: Interactions and frictions between international criminal law and international refugee law introduction

This Special Issue examines the growing interaction and friction between international criminal law (ICL) and international refugee law (IRL). Central to this interaction is Article 1F of the Refugee Convention, which excludes individuals suspected of serious international crimes from refugee protection. This introduction highlights how IRL increasingly draws on ICL concepts to determine exclusion, despite significant differences in evidentiary standards, procedural safeguards, and underlying objectives. These differences risk producing legal misalignment, lowering thresholds of proof, and encouraging States to rely on immigration law as an alternative to criminal prosecution. Introducing the contributions to the Special Issue, the article identifies four broader trends: the expansion of exclusion and immigration control mechanisms, the shift of accountability efforts from criminal trials to immigration procedures, the creation of prolonged legal limbo for excluded individuals, and the problematic transfer of criminal law language into refugee decision-making without equivalent safeguards. The article calls for critical scrutiny of these developments and advocates for better coordination between ICL and IRL to ensure accountability while safeguarding fundamental rights.