Title: State sovereignty or international rule of law: legal and 'illegal' migration in European Union

Authors: Elspeth Guild

Addresses: The School of Law and Social Justice Building, University of Liverpool, Chatham Street, Liverpool L69 7ZR, UK

Abstract: The claim to an entitlement to control the entry of persons into a state is based on the principle of state sovereignty, much cherished by many governments. Yet, the creation of border control free zones in regional frameworks raise profound questions about the necessity of these border controls and constitute a real-life challenge to governments to justify the grounds for them. The exercise of this claim to state sovereignty in the European context specifically creates friction with another principle of the modern state as one compliant with the rule of law under international human rights law. The result is increasing limitation on the basis of international law of the lawful use of state sovereignty claim to justify (often) deadly border controls to prevent people from crossing state borders.

Keywords: sovereignty; legal migration; illegal migration; irregular migration; European Union; EU; Schengen; border controls; border guards; expulsion; rule of law; state sovereignty; people on the move; Marrakesh compact.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMBS.2024.145499

International Journal of Migration and Border Studies, 2024 Vol.8 No.3/4, pp.170 - 185

Received: 22 Nov 2023
Accepted: 16 Jul 2024
Published online: 01 Apr 2025 *

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