Effective Judicial Protection in the External Dimension of the EU's Migration and Asylum Policies?

This contribution examines the impact of two trends in the external dimension of the EU’s migration and asylum policies on the judicial protection of individuals: informalisation on the one hand and operationalisation on the other. The first is exemplified by the EU-Turkey Statement, known as the EU-Turkey deal, and the second by the operational cooperation the EU agency Frontex carries out in joint operations with and on the territory of third states. While the legal nature of the practices under scrutiny is quite different, their examination demonstrates that both trends pose significant challenges to individuals whose rights have been violated to have access to EU courts in search of a remedy. The underlying reason for these challenges is the fact that the system of remedies set up by the Treaties has not been revised to correspond to EU’s ever-expanding toolbox of instruments and activities, which by now go beyond those enshrined in the Treaties. The result is that this gap in judicial protection leaves a particularly vulnerable group of people, namely irregular migrants, exposed to human rights violations.