HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE EUROPEAN CONSTITUTIONAL ORDER

This article aims to analyse the use of the legal fiction of non-entry in the context of human rights protection, discuss its conformity with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union ( hereafter “the Charter” ) and the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees ( hereafter “the Convention” ) and consider the potential risks of establishing this fiction into the European legislation. The first chapter provides general information on the legal fiction of non-entry as well as the concept of extraterritoriality. The second chapter describes the use of the fiction in the Screening regulation and the Asylum procedure regulation and compares the different conditions and legal regimes that apply to third-country nationals depending on their presence at the border. The last chapter is devoted to the potential violation of provisions of the Charter and the Convention. 1. The Legal Fiction of Non-Entry The legal fiction of non-entry (non-entrée) is generally used in the field of border protection in cases of unauthorised entry of third-country nationals. 5 In the context of the EU it means that despite the physical presence of a third-country national in the territory of the EU, their arrival legally occurs once authorised border officers approve their application. 6 This fiction consists of the separation of physical and legal borders 7 . It entails the creation of a different legal regime for people physically in the territory of a state yet legally remaining outside. The legal fiction of non-entry is merely one of the ways to separate the physical and legal borders of a state. Systematically, it can be classified within the concept of extraterritoriality 8 or so-called externalization 9 . Some academics use the term borders and amending Regulations (EC) No 767/2008, (EU) 2017/2226, (EU) 2018/1240 and (EU) 2019/817[online]. [cit. 2024-08-15]. Available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/ PDF/?uri=OJ:L_202401356. 5 RONDINE, Francesca. Between physical and legal borders: the fiction of non-entry and its impact on fundamental rights of migrants at the borders between EU law and the ECHR. In: Centre Charles De Visscher pour le droit international et européen . Louvain-La-Neuve: Université catholique de Louvain [online]. [cit. 2024-08-15]. Available at: https://uclouvain.be/fr/instituts-recherche/juri/cedie/actualites/ rondineaout2022.html. 6 SODESTORM, Kelly. AN ANALYSIS OF THE FICTION OF NON-ENTRY AS APPEARS IN THE SCREENING REGULATION [online]. P. 2 [cit. 2024-08-15]. Available at: https://ecre.org/ wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ECRE-Commentary-Fiction-of-Non-Entry-September-2022.pdf. 7 RONDINE, Francesca. Between physical and legal borders: the fiction of non-entry and its impact on fundamental rights of migrants at the borders between EU law and the ECHR. In: Centre Charles De Visscher pour le droit international et européen . Louvain-La-Neuve: Université catholique de Louvain [online]. [cit. 2024-08-15]. Available at: https://uclouvain.be/fr/instituts-recherche/juri/cedie/ actualites/rondineaout2022.html 8 Ibidem 9 CANTOR, David; TAN, Nicolas Feith; GKLIATI, Mariana; MAVROPOULOU, Elizabeth; ALLISON, Kathryn et al. Externalisation, Access to Territorial Asylum, and International Law. In: International Journal of Refugee Law [online]. Vol. 34, No. 1, pp. 120–156, Chapter 2: Conceptualising externalization [cit. 2024-08-15]. Available at: https://academic.oup.com/ijrl/article/34/1/120/6619241?.

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