Recent developments in asylum and immigration law before the Court of Justice

Abstract

In this paper recent developments in asylum and immigration law before the Court of Justice of the European Communities are discussed, both from a substantive and a procedural perspective. In relation to substantive law developments, the article analyses cases such as Zhu, Eind and Metock, in which the rights of third country nationals are examined and protected through the prism of the rights of Union citizens. This situation is changing with the arrival at the Court of preliminary references on instruments adopted under Title V of the EC Treaty, and cases currently in the pipeline, such as Elgafaji and Petrosian, will reveal whether the Court’s analysis of third country nationals’ rights will be different in this context. In the second part of the article, which deals with recent procedural developments, particular attention is given to the urgent preliminary ruling procedure and how the most effective use can be made of it in the field of European asylum and immigration law.