Detention of applicants for international protection in the context of the common European asylum system : judicial analysis

The purpose of this judicial analysis is to put at the disposal of courts and tribunals dealing with detention issues relating to international protection cases a helpful tool for the understanding of the issues involved according to the CEAS and EU law generally. It is recognised that not all Member States have adopted the relevant directives. It is also recognised that detention issues are dealt with in a variety of different ways by Member States. For example, in some Member States all detention issues are dealt with by criminal courts even when the issues relate to administrative detention. The judicial analysis is primarily intended for use by members of courts and tribunals of EU Member States concerned with hearing appeals or conducting reviews of decisions on applications for international protection. It is assumed that the reader will be familiar with the broad structure of international protection law as interpreted by the CEAS. It is also assumed that the reader will be familiar with national law and practice relating to international protection and detention issues in the Member State in which he/she has jurisdiction. It is however intended to be of use to both those with little or no prior experience of adjudication in this field and to those who are experienced or specialist judges in the field. The judicial analysis is supported by an appendix listing relevant source material and by a decision tree which is intended to be a quick reference guide to the issues involved when dealing with detention issues. It is also supported by a compilation of Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) jurisprudence referred to in the body of the analysis. This compilation of jurisprudence is not intended to be, and indeed cannot be, exhaustive and the reader is encouraged always to search for the most up-to-date relevant material when considering specific issues. The judicial analysis aims to set out the current state of the law on the detention of applicants for international protection in a clear, readable and user-friendly format. This is a rapidly evolving area of law and it is intended that this analysis, as with all of the judicial analyses in the EASO series will be regularly updated.