Paper Example on Role of European Courts in Addressing the Refugee Crisis

Introduction

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Refugee crises refer to the movement of large groups of individuals who are displaced (Townsend, 2015, p. 1). The term refugee crisis is not used in Europe correctly, as other countries in different parts of the world have more refugees as compared to the European nations. The purpose of this essay is to discuss the role of the law in the context of putting up restrictive migration policies that are affecting migrants especially the ones that are migrating because they are looking for safety. In reviewing the case laws concerning the European Courts of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of The European Union, it is evident that tension is a permanent issue. European courts uphold rights partially, temporary, or limited to some context. This strategy enables the government judiciaries to play the role of restricting the impact of rulings. Some countries, for instance, France, have taken measures to curb the problem. Nations have made concerns that they need state support during this time of economic insecurity in Europe. Additionally, some of the Europeans fear Islam poses a threat to that their cultures. The migration crisis has also resulted in the spread of images of intolerance and suffering. Therefore, the law plays a significant role in the context of placing strict migration policies affecting the migrants.

Refugee crisis

Refugee crisis is an issue that has emerged in the past ten years in the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights. Research also indicates that the number of asylum cases concerning the issues affecting human rights have highly increased over the years in the European countries. The number of cases in the Court of Justice is also increasing as the number of refugees continues to grow. The refugee crisis in Europe will reduce in the years to come as the leaders are employing different strategies to curb the migration of refugees, for example, building walls.

European Courts

The European courts consist of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The courts are independent and distinct. The European Court of Justice is concerned with the jurisdiction of the European Union and it has 28 member states. The European Court of Human Rights was established in the Council of the European Union, and it is concerned with issues regarding human rights, freedom, and goods. ECHR consists of 47 member states. The European Council was formed after the Second World War to bring the European states together to help promote the rule of law, human rights, and democracy. The European Council implemented ECHR in 1950. The ECHR has provisions that mention the foreigners and limit some of their rights. The states of the European Union have the obligation of ensuring that their leaders comply with the ECHR. The laws require all the judges to act according to the provision of the European Convention on Human Rights. Both the two courts provide decisions that are legally binding. They are concerned with issues regarding human rights and fundamental freedom.

The Role of European Courts in Addressing the Refugee Crisis

There is an alarming trend on how the refugees and asylum seekers are treated in the European nations. The countries are engaging in intense border patrols as they try to deter the entry of migrants into their territory. The migrants who do not get the chance of entering irregularly Council of migrants in their region are usually criminalized, expelled, and locked up in the prisons like conditions. As countries attempt to fight the abusive requests of the asylum, most of the nations undermine the request of the asylum seekers who are genuine who do get detained and they are unable to get efficient and fair asylum procedures.

According to the European Union members, the two European courts have a limited role in performing corrective functions. Furthermore, there are different claims dealt with in the refugee crisis that is affecting European countries relating to human torture and ill-treatment. Most of the states are rejecting administration of cases concerning the refugees. Additionally, the states mobilize one another for the intervention of the third parties in case they are faced with a serious issue. The European Union has 28 members, and the EU law comprises of treaties. The EU states approved the treaty of the European Union. The treaties act as binding agreements in the EU member states. They set EU objectives and rules of the institution. Various cases are involved concerning the issue of the refugee crisis. For instance, the case of UK in which it utilized its presidency of the EU Council to play the role of informing the other governments concerning revisiting the earlier ruling referred to as Chahal. In this decision, the ECHR held that even if the person seeking asylum was a suspect, the person could not be returned to his or her country of origin because there could be a danger of violating the article 3. In most cases, the governments in the European Union play the role of getting some of the cases of asylum seekers out of the list by providing them with a residence permit. This is one of the strategies used by nations to curb the issue of the refugee crisis. The domestic courts function differently in various countries. Thus, resulting in the difference in the interactions among states. The UK uses its leadership in the Council of the EU with the aim of informing other governments that there could be an opportunity of revisiting the earlier stated laws.

In the previous cases concerning asylum seekers, the lawyers played the role of bringing cases in the supranational courts. The supranational courts in Europe perform different duties. They act as engines for the regional integration. The socialization of the European judges across the European nations, which entrenched to a set of complex intertwined, jurisprudence, which is held by the supranational judicial institutions, has profoundly contributed to setting up of complicated systems. These complicated systems of the supranational human rights supervision were not planned during the construction of Europe. The European supranational courts play the role of regulating different affairs of the European Union, for example, issues concerning asylum seekers and territorial differences. The court also plays the role of interpreting the European Convention on Human Rights. The court performs the task of advancing the integration in the regional organizations. Therefore, the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights play the role of regulating the policies regarding asylum seekers and migrants.

Relationship between European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice

The relationship that exists between European Court of Human Rights and the European Court Of Justice is that they are concerned with issues of human rights law and the European Union law. ECJ is concerned with ruling the cases involving European Union while ECHR is concerned with dealing with European Convention on Human Rights that covers all the 47 member states. Furthermore, the members of the European Union must be informed before cases go to ECHR. Additionally, the ECJ ruled that the EU members could not escape their obligations of human rights by arguing that the EU law implemented them. ECJ provides European Convention on Human Rights with special significance used as a guiding principle in the case law. The ECJ also uses the general principle of the law to guide it during the decision-making process.

The European Court of Justice is officially referred to as the Court of Justice of the European Union. It contains three different courts including Civil Service Tribunal, the Court of Justice, and the General Court. The role of the Civil Service Tribunal is to consider the actions of the institutions that are in the EU and the judgments it makes help in clarifying the European law to help ensure that it is applied similarly to all the EU members. Additionally, the Court of Justice of the European Union has one representative judge from each member state. All the judges are appointed for six years. Companies, organizations, and individuals have the chance of bringing a case regarding breach of rights by any EU member state.

The ECHR laws play the role of contracting all the states and securing every individual in their jurisdiction with freedoms and rights, which are defined in section 1 of ECHR. A contracting state also plays the role of securing freedom and rights stated in the convention for the people present in the territory.

The European Court of Human Rights performs four functions including examining the different applications from everyone or group of people with issues regarding human rights. They also play the role of investigating domestic cases in which any state can refer to the court. Furthermore, it offers advisory opinions when the committee of ministries in the Council of Europe request. The court also rules when required by the board of ministries concerning the questions of interpretation regarding the judgment it made. The court observes the entire subsidiary at every convention.

Cases in European Courts of Human Rights Dublin cases

Colombian case

The case of a Colombian man who had an exceptional leave to remain in Belgium but wanted a permanent residence as his children born in Belgium had acquired the citizenship of the country. The man also requested for an employment benefit. The case turned out to be complicated as the employment tribunal was the one dealing with the case. In this case, the Belgium government was held responsible for not resolving the issue affecting the asylum seeker as they returned him to his home country where he would face the same treatment.

Tarakhel vs. SwitzerlandTarakhel vs. Switzerland case was about the Swiss authorities who did not examine the asylum application of a couple from Afghanistan and their children. They decided to send them back to Italy and the absentia of personal guarantees of their case, which would make them be subjected to ill-treatment, which was linked to systematic deficiencies. Additionally, the Swiss authorities did not offer them enough consideration regardin...