One Legal Fiction After Another: The Court of Justice Judgment on the Asylum Border Procedure in Joined Cases C‑50/24 to...
The EU Court of Justice ruled in the Danané joined cases (C‑50/24‑C‑56/24) that border asylum procedures may be carried out in inland detention centres designated as “at the border” by national law. The judgment confirms that after the four‑week limit of Article 43 recast APD expires, the case must shift to the regular asylum procedure, but detention can continue in the same facility if justified under the Reception Conditions Directive. The Court stresses that continued detention must meet strict safeguards—necessity, proportionality, individual assessment and judicial review—and that applicants must be informed of the change in legal status. The decision signals a move away from a geographic definition of the border toward a functional, legally‑based approach.
Testing the Applicability of EU Law Abroad: The Italy–Albania Protocol in the Comeri, Sidilli, and Sedrata Hearings
On 23‑24 March 2026 the Court of Justice of the EU heard two linked cases (C‑706/25 Comeri, C‑707/25 Sidilli and C‑414/25 Sedrata) on the Italy‑Albania Protocol that allows asylum and return procedures to be carried out in Albanian detention centres. The hearings raised two core...
Detention by Delay? A Structural Paradox in EU Migration Law
The EU Return Directive and the Commission’s draft Return Regulation allow Member States to extend the detention of irregular migrants, but only if the original legal basis for detention remains valid. The draft regulation controversially adds a clause permitting extensions...
Clash Between Gender Data vs Hungarian Personal Data Register: Can an Existing Hungarian Registry System Prevent the Enforcement of Trans...
Hungary’s Supreme Court (Kúria) rejected a trans‑person’s request to amend the "sex" field in the personal data and address register, arguing the register must mirror the birth‑registry’s biological "sex at birth" entry. The claimant invoked Article 16 GDPR and the CJEU’s...
The Primacy of EU Law in Bulgaria After CJEU’s Judgment in Case C‑56/25: A Thorny Path Ahead
On 12 February 2026 the Court of Justice of the EU issued its judgment in Case C‑56/25, confirming that EU law retains primacy over national legislation even when Bulgaria’s Constitutional Court procedural rules require a prior constitutional assessment. The ruling...
The Chios Incident: Echoes of Pylos Humanitarian Disaster and Greece's Criminalization of Solidarity
The February 3 2026 Chios shipwreck saw a Hellenic Coast Guard patrol vessel collide with an inflatable carrying roughly 39 Afghan migrants, killing 15 and injuring 24, including minors. Autopsies revealed fatal head trauma, contradicting official claims of a migrant‑initiated collision, while...
The Aleb Judgment on ‘Safe Third Countries’ in Asylum Law: The CJEU’s Answer to EU Legislative Amendments?
On 5 February 2026 the Court of Justice issued its Aleb judgment, clarifying that the EU’s ‘safe‑third‑country’ presumption under the Asylum Procedures Directive is subject to cumulative substantive and procedural safeguards. The Court stressed that a genuine connection between the applicant and...
Race, Housing, and the Limits of EU Anti-Discrimination Law: A Commentary on the CJEU’s Judgment in the Danish ‘Ghetto Law’...
The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that Denmark’s public‑housing scheme, which targets "non‑Western" immigrants for forced relocations, falls within the scope of the Race Equality Directive and constitutes ethnic origin discrimination. The Grand Chamber affirmed that the...
Asylum Pact 2.0: The EU Amends the Rules on ‘Safe Third Countries’ and ‘Safe Countries of Origin’
The EU Council approved two amendments to the asylum pact, tightening rules on both ‘safe countries of origin’ and ‘safe third countries’. Designations become mandatory, with the option to label parts of a country or specific groups as safe, and...
Digital Services Act: Summary and Links
The EU Digital Services Act (DSA) imposes a special regulatory regime on very large online platforms (VLOPs) and very large online search engines (VLOSEs), mandating risk assessments, independent audits, data‑transparency and fines up to 6% of worldwide turnover. The European...