Dr Jefferies is a lawyer and Laureate Postdoctoral Fellow at the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, ARC Laureate Evacuations Research Hub at the University of New South Wales. She is also an affiliate of the Border Policy Research Institute at Western Washington University. Dr Jefferies specialises in international human rights law and international refugee law, with a focus on transnational legal theory, the law of state responsibility, and the application of international legal norms in transboundary and multi-jurisdictional settings. Her research publications have examined the role of street-level bureaucrats, sub-state entities, and international organisations in the implementation and contestation of international legal norms.
Her current work as part of the ARC Laureate Evacuations Research Hub critically explores international law in relation to the concept of 'evacuations' in a variety of transboundary contexts, including disasters, climate change, conflict, and emergencies.
Dr Jefferies has extensive experience in the practice of asylum and refugee law before United States administrative agencies and the United States federal courts. She holds a PhD from the University of New South Wales; a Master of Studies from the University of Oxford in International Human Rights Law; a Juris Doctorate from Arizona State University; and a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs from The George Washington University.
Journal articles
Jefferies R; Barratt T; Huang C; Bashford A, 2023, 'Regulating Movement in Pandemic Times', Journal of Bioethical Inquiry, 20, pp. 633 - 638, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11673-023-10292-1
Jefferies R; McAdam J, 2023, 'Locked In: Australia’s COVID-19 Border Closures and the Right to Leave', Australian Year Book of International Law, 41, pp. 185 - 231, http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/26660229-04101002
Jefferies R; McAdam J; Pillai S, 2022, 'Can we still call Australia home? The right to return and the legality of Australia’s COVID-19 travel restrictions', Australian Journal of Human Rights, 27, pp. 211 - 231, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1323238X.2021.1996529
Gleeson M; Wood T; Barbour B; Jeffries R; Moodley R, 2022, 'Case Law Summaries', International Journal of Refugee Law, 34, pp. 82 - 92, http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ijrl/eeac026
Gleeson M; Wood T; Barbour B; Jefferies R; Moodley R, 2021, 'Case Law Summaries', International Journal of Refugee Law, 33, pp. 671 - 681
Jefferies R, 2021, 'Transnational Legal Process: An Evolving Theory and Methodology', Brooklyn Journal of International Law, 46, pp. 311 - 311, http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3990378
Golder B; Hush A; Jefferies R; Johns F; Nolan J, 2021, 'Foreword', Australian Journal of Human Rights, 27, pp. 399 - 401, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1323238X.2022.2039056
Wood T; Barbour B; Gleeson M; Jefferies R; Moodley R, 2021, 'Kwatra v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs [2021] FCA 58 (4 February 2021)', INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF REFUGEE LAW, 33, pp. 497 - 505, http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ijrl/eeab048
Jefferies R, 2021, 'Bringing externalization home: the International Civil Aviation Organization and ‘entry screening’ in Australia', Globalizations, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14747731.2021.1989152
Jefferies R; Ghezelbash D; Hirsch A, 2020, 'Assessing Refugee Protection Claims at Australian Airports: The Gap Between Law, Policy, and Practice', MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW, 44, pp. 162 - 211, http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3746085
Barbour B; Gleeson M; Jefferies R; Moodley R, 2020, 'BFH16 v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection [2020] FCAFC 54 (31 March 2020)', INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF REFUGEE LAW, 32, pp. 507 - 518, http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ijrl/eeaa026
Jefferies R, 2019, 'Data Quality and the Law of Refugee Protection in Australia', Court of Conscience, 13, pp. 63 - 63
Jefferies R, 2019, 'Research Access and Adaptation in the Securitised Field of Australian Refugee and Asylum Law', Journal of the Oxford Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, 2019, pp. 49 - 53, https://joxcsls.com/publications/vol-2019/issue-1/research-access-and-adaptation-in-the-securitised-field-of-australian-refugee-and-asylum-law/#_ftn1
Jefferies RM, 2012, 'One of These Things is Not Like the Other: An Analysis of Marriage Under the Immigration and Nationality Act', Law Journal for Social Justice, https://ljsj.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/jefferiesfall2012ljsj.pdf
Jefferies RM, 2006, 'The Supreme Court of Arizona: Its 2004-2005 Decisions', Arizona State Law Journal
Jefferies RM, 2005, 'The Equitable Application of International Law: Revised Principles for a Solution to the Maasai Land Dispute', Arizona State Law Journal
Media
Jefferies R, 2022, Accessing Airport Asylum Procedures Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic, , https://ilareporter.org.au/2022/02/accessing-airport-asylum-procedures-before-and-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/
McAdam J; Jefferies R, 2021, Bring Them Home: Both the Law and Moral Duty Demand We Don’t Leave Australians Stranded in India, , https://www.smh.com.au/national/bring-them-home-both-the-law-and-moral-duty-demand-we-don-t-leave-australians-stranded-in-india-20210428-p57n5e.html
McAdam J; Jefferies R, 2021, Who’s Being Allowed to Leave Australia during COVID? FOI Data Show It Is Murky and Arbitrary, , https://theconversation.com/whos-being-allowed-to-leave-australia-during-covid-foi-data-show-it-is-murky-and-arbitrary-163725
McAdam J; Jefferies R, 2021, Hard to See the Reasoning Behind New Rules for Australian Expats, , https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/hard-to-see-the-reasoning-behind-new-rules-for-australian-expats-20210808-p58gwk.html
McAdam J; Jefferies R; Hicks L, 2021, The Federal Government Just Made It Even Harder for Australians Overseas to Come Home. Is This Legal? Or Reasonable?, , https://theconversation.com/the-federal-government-just-made-it-even-harder-for-australians-overseas-to-come-home-is-this-legal-or-reasonable-165744
McAdam J; Bashford A; Jefferies R, 2021, Will NSW’s Opening Up to International Travel Lead to Internal Borders Closing Down?, , https://johnmenadue.com/will-nsws-opening-up-to-international-travel-lead-to-internal-borders-closing-down/
Ghezelbash D; Hirsch A; Jefferies R, 2020, With our borders shut, this is the ideal time to overhaul our asylum seeker policies, , https://theconversation.com/with-our-borders-shut-this-is-the-ideal-time-to-overhaul-our-asylum-seeker-policies-146016?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=bylinetwitterbutton
Hirsch A; Ghezelbash D; Jefferies R, 2019, We don’t know how many asylum seekers are turned away at Australian airports, , https://theconversation.com/we-dont-know-how-many-asylum-seekers-are-turned-away-at-australian-airports-111344
Jefferies R, 2019, “Offshore Processing” in Guatemala: A Deeper Look at the U.S. Asylum Deal, , https://www.justsecurity.org/65967/offshore-processing-in-guatemala-a-deeper-look-at-the-u-s-asylum-deal/
Jefferies R; Ghezelbash D, 2019, There’s no airport border “crisis”, only management failure of the Home Affairs department, , https://theconversation.com/theres-no-airport-border-crisis-only-management-failure-of-the-home-affairs-department-125068
Jefferies R, 2019, US Supreme court has a duty to stop Trump’s travel ban, , https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/us-supreme-court-has-duty-stop-trump-travel-ban
Jefferies R, 2018, Tragedy of Errors: The Solicitor General, the Supreme Court and the Truth, , https://www.justsecurity.org/56718/tragedy-errors-solicitor-general-supreme-court-truth/
Conference Presentations
Jefferies R, 2021, 'Street-level Bureaucrats in a Transnational Legal Process: Using Social Network Analysis to Visualise “Hidden” Decisions in Australian Asylum Law', presented at Osgoode GLSA Graduate Student Conference 2020-2021, 19 February 2021
Jefferies R, 2020, 'Habitus and Transnational Legal Process in Australian Asylum Law', presented at Law and Society Association Annual Conference, 28 May 2020
Jefferies R; Crisp J; FitzGerald D; Richard AC, 2020, 'Immigration, Asylum, and National Security: A Comparative Perspective', presented at 2020 Ambassador William C. Battle Symposium, Miller Center, University of Virginia, 26 October 2020, https://millercenter.org/miller-center-presents/immigration-asylum-and-national-security-comparative-perspective
Jefferies R, 2020, 'Ethics around researching Forced Migration', presented at Research Methods Workshop, Forced Migration Research Network and Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Sydney, 27 November 2020
Jefferies R, 2019, 'Street-level Bureaucrats, Discretion and Data: Pre-Screening Protection Claims at the Border', presented at Kaldor Centre Annual Conference 2019, 26 November 2019
Jefferies RM, 2017, 'The Case for Judicial Enforcement of the Fundamental Obligation of Non-Refoulement in the United States', presented at International Meeting on Law and Society, Mexico City, Mexico, 20 June 2017 - 23 June 2017
Reports
Jefferies R; Ghezelbash D; Hirsch A, 2020, Assessing Protection Claims at Airports: Developing procedures to meet international and domestic obligations, The Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, http://dx.doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/27960, https://www.kaldorcentre.unsw.edu.au/publication/policy-brief-9-airports
Other
Gleeson M, 2020, Case Law Summaries (Australia and New Zealand), Oxford University Press, , http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ijrl/eeab005
Books
Jefferies RM; Chan RL, 2018, Jefferies and Chan's Immigration Simulations: Bridge to Practice, West Academic Publishing, https://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1640206035