06 July 2026
Instrumentalised Migration or an Instrumentalised Court?
Amid pending proceedings before the ECtHR concerning summary expulsions and arbitrary detentions, in a context marked by over 120,000 documented push-backs on the Belarusian border, the Chișinău Declaration seeks to influence the legal framework within which the Court assesses such practices. The Declaration emphasises the fundamental duty of states to protect their borders and maintain national security in the context of instrumentalisation of migration, drawing on “democracy capable of defending itself”. I argue that it is not a task for the Court to carve its decisions based on geopolitical circumstances. Continue reading >>
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30 January 2024
Shielding Frontex 2.0
In Hamoudi v Frontex, the General Court dismissed another action that could have clarified if, when, and how independent or joint human rights responsibility would arise when Frontex is engaged in shared operational conduct with the Member States. This time not on the basis of an obscure re-interpretation of the Applicant’s claim, but instead, on the basis of an unattainably high and unrealistic burden, standard and method of proof. In doing so, the General Court again eschews from clarifying the nature, conditions and consequences of both independent and joint human rights responsibility of Frontex. Taken together, these cases raise the question whether there are any viable forms of judicial recourse for fundamental rights violations committed or contributed to by the EU’s Border and Coastguard Agency. Continue reading >>
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