New Zealand Refugee Law -

RefNZ

Preferred Search Terms and Phrases

Terms used in the headnotes have been standardized according to the International Thesaurus of Refugee Terminology (2nd ed, 1996).

If you have been experiencing problems when querying the database, it may be that you have been using the wrong search terms. Check the following list:

This "thesaurus" is to assist in searching the headnote database. Essentially it gives alternative search terms and specifies the preferred search term. This is especially important where abbreviations are used.

The list which follows contains examples only and is not in any way exhaustive.

 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

PREFERRED SEARCH TERMS ARE IN CAPITALS:

A

  • ABSENTIA - this term is used when an appellant has been convicted and sentenced in his or her absence
  • AIR - Amnesty International Report
  • AISSF - All India Sikh Students Federation
  • All India Sikh Students Federation - AISSF
  • Amnesty International Report - AIR
  • ARTICLE 1A 2 - Inclusion Clause
  • ARTICLE 1C - Cessation Clause
  • ARTICLE 1D - Exclusion Clause
  • ARTICLE 1F - serious non-political offence/exclusion clause
    •  B
  • BABBAR KHALSA
  • BHINDRANWALE TIGER FORCE - BTF
  • BTF - BHINDRANWALE TIGER FORCE
    •  C
  • CHANGES OF CIRCUMSTANCES IN HOME COUNTRY - recommended search would be CHANGE <sentence> HOME COUNTRY
  • China - PRC
  • CONVENTION <sentence> TORTURE - Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
  • Country of origin information - when searching for a discussion of the situation in a particular country (ie, in relation to human rights, the political situation, religion etc), the following method is recommended: - search country name or area, ie, PRC <paragraph> DISCUSS The headnote should specify either brief discussion or substantial discussion. This search method may also be used to find factual information on a particular agent, ie, the JVP
  • Credibility - the appellant's credibility is addressed in the well-founded fear paragraph only when an adverse finding has been made or the appellant has been given the benefit of the doubt. Therefore, when searching for adverse findings search CREDIBILITY, and when searching for decisions where the appellant was given the benefit of the doubt search CREDIBILITY, BENEFIT <sentence> DOUBT
    •  D
  • DOS REPORT [YEAR], ie, 1989 - Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for (year referred to in title of report, not year of publication)
    •  E
  • EVIDENCE - in a headnote this search term will refer to the type of evidence presented in a case, authenticity/credibility of documentary evidence, false documents or the weight to be given to a piece of documentary evidence
  • Exclusion Clause - ARTICLE 1D
  • EXCOM CONCLUSION - Conclusions on the International Protection of Refugees Adopted by the Executive Committee of the UNHCR Programme
    •  G
  • Genuine fear - the headnotes do not use search terms which distinguish between findings that the appellant does have a genuine fear of persecution and findings that the appellant does not have a genuine fear of persecution. In order to search for cases where the Authority has found that the appellant does not hold a genuine fear, it is suggested that the following search be done: GENUINE <paragraph> CREDIBILITY <not> BENEFIT
    •  I
  • ICCPR - International Convention on Civil and Political Rights
  • Illegal departure - search UNLAWFUL DEPARTURE
  • Inclusion Clause - ARTICLE 1A 2
  • INTERNAL FLIGHT ALTERNATIVE - relocation
  • International Convention on Civil and Political Rights - ICCPR
  • INTERPRET or TRANSLATE - these two terms are used interchangeably and should encompass all interpreter/translation issues
  • ISAAQ
    •  J
  • Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna - JVP
  • JVP - Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna
    •  K
  • KCF - KHALISTAN COMMANDO FORCE
  • KHALISTAN COMMANDO FORCE - KCF
    •  M
  • MEANINGFUL PROTECTION ACCESSIBLE
  • Meaningful protection not accessible
  • MEDICAL report/certificate - usually preceded by "Evidence"
  • MENTAL - can use this search term for all issues relating to the mental health of appellant - paragraphs 206-212 UNHCR Handbook, psychiatric disorders, etc
  • militants - TERRORIST
  • MISDIRECTION - any problems with the first instance decision, be they factual, legal, evidential, procedural will be headnoted under either RSS misdirection or NZIS misdirection followed by details as to the nature of the problem
  • MOJAHEDIN
    •  N
  • New Zealand Immigration Service - NZIS
  • NON-APPEARANCE of appellant - appellant absent from hearing
  • NZIS - New Zealand Immigration Service
    •  P
  • PRC - China
  • PROSECUTION - a search of the word "prosecution" should bring up all prosecution/persecution issues
  • PUNJAB POLICE CRACKDOWN
    •  R
  • Refugee Status Branch - RSB
  • Refugee Status Section - RSS
  • Relocation - INTERNAL FLIGHT ALTERNATIVE
  • Republikflucht - search unlawful departure and/or unlawful absence
  • RSB - Refugee Status Branch
  • RSS - Refugee Status Section
  • RUSSIAN FEDERATION - Russia
    •  S
  • SHIV - use to search for Shiv Senna
  • Sikh militants - SIKH TERRORISTS
  • SIKH TERRORISTS - Sikh militants
  • STATE PROTECTION - most of the state protection cases involve internal flight. If searching for state protection issues other than internal flight alternative, try STATE PROTECTION <not> INTERNAL FLIGHT. Note: early headnotes tend to use both terms while later headnotes use one or the other
    •  T
  • TORTURE <near> CONVENTION - Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
  • TRANSLATE or INTERPRET - these two terms are used interchangeably and should encompass all interpreter/translation issues
  • Trial in ABSENTIA - use when appellant tried and convicted in his absence
    •  U
  • UNHCR HANDBOOK - UNHCR Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status
  • UNLAWFUL ABSENCE - Republikflucht
  • UNLAWFUL DEPARTURE - illegal departure, Republikflucht
  • UDHR - Universal Declaration of Human Rights
  • Universal Declaration of Human Rights - UDHR
  • USSR - this term may be useful if you are unsure which part of the former USSR the appellant is a citizen of. If you know, then search the correct term, ie, Russian Federation, Ukraine, etc
    •