LIAS Kolloquium: The Effect Of Judicial (In)Dependence On Asylum Status Determination
Natascha Zaun, LIAS Faculty Fellow
11. Nov
In the winter semester 2026/27, the LIAS Colloquium will open its doors to the university community for the first time. The Fellows will present their current research projects, offering insights into the questions, methods and perspectives that shape their work. The weekly colloquium provides a space for focused exchange on the diverse research projects pursued at LIAS. All members of the university community are warmly invited to discover the programme and engage with the Fellows’ research.
Date: Wednesday, 11 Nov 2026, 12:15-1:45 p.m.
Location: Campus | Central Building C40.530
This talk presents a developing research project intended as the basis for an external funding proposal. Previous research has shown that judicial independence can shield asylum decision-making from political and public pressures, but we know considerably less about the causal mechanisms underlying this relationship. The project therefore asks how changes in judicial independence affect the behaviour of judges and asylum administrations, and under what conditions courts can insulate asylum decision-making from political pressure. Drawing on neo-institutionalist approaches to judicial behaviour, it examines both strategic responses to changing incentives and sanctions and the role of professional norms and understandings of judicial independence. Empirically, the project combines comparative and longitudinal analyses of Poland and Austria with document analysis, expert interviews and process tracing to investigate how changes in judicial independence translate into changes in asylum decision-making.