This book is a record of the proceedings of a colloquy on 'Human Rights of Aliens in Europe'. The Colloquy was organised by the Secretariat General of the Council of Europe, and held in Madiera, Portugal from the 17 to 19 October 1983. The three themes of the Colloquy were: the admission of aliens into the territory of the host country and their residence there, participation of aliens in public affairs (political and associative life) and the fact that aliens belong to various cultures and the tension which this creates. Separate sessions were devoted to each theme. On the admission of aliens to the territory of the host country and his residence there, it was proposed by one participant that only 'real' as opposed to 'fictitious' families should be considered as eligible to the special consideration of family reunification in the refugee admission procedure of states. It was pointed out, however, that it is far from easy to come to a clear definition of the 'family'. Discussion also touched on the right of aliens to have the assistance of an interpreter for legal civil, criminal and administrative proceedings, the relation of asylum and extradition, and what measures could be taken within the Council of Europe to promote better compliance on the part of states to European Conventions. On the participation of aliens in public affairs, there was discussion on the right of aliens, especially of migrant workers, to vote at the local level and the question of participation in home elections while abroad. Discussion on the third theme centered upon whether government immigration policy and the treatment of resident aliens should be based on a concept of aliens as being a threat to the European society or whether the contact between peoples brought about by immigration could result in mutually beneficial changes.

This volume deals with the basic human rights of aliens from the perspective of international and comparative law. It examines the rules regarding treatment of aliens and the extent to which these rules have been adopted in the domestic legislation of more than 40 different states. It aims to achieve two basic goals: 1) to define the status of aliens under international law, that is, which rights are granted to every person by international instruments; and 2) to establish whether this set of rules has been adopted by the domestic legislation of the states under review. The author classifies the basic human rights of aliens into seven different categories, namely: 1) fundamental rights; 2) private rights; 3) social and cultural rights; 4) economic rights; 5) political rights; 6) public rights; and 7) procedural rights. For each of these categories she reviews opinions of international legal commentators, decisions of international and regional tribunals, as well as national legislation, domestic court decisions, and opinions of local authorities.

Preface to the first edition

This volume conducts an in-depth analysis of the ECtHR’s case law in the area of migration and asylum as regards the most relevant rights of the ECHR, exploring the role of this court in this area of law.

Parts of this volume were originally delivered as the Melland Schill lectures at the University of Manchester, Nov. 19-20, 1981.

Annotation The Academy is an institution for the study and teaching of public and private international law and related subjects. Its purpose is to encourage a thorough and impartial examination of the problems arising from international relations in the field of law. The courses deal with the theoretical and practical aspects of the subject, including legislation and case law. All courses at the Academy are, in principle, published in the language in which they were delivered in the "Collected Courses of the Hague Academy of International Law."

This third edition of the Short Guide, which covers developments to the end of 2003, provides a concise overview of the basic rights guaranteed by the Council of Europe's Convention on Human Rights, and the case-law relating to these rights. The publication also details the procedures followed by the European Court of Human Rights when handling applications under the Convention, and the role of the Committee of Ministers as a supervisory organ in giving force to the judgments of the Court.

Desperate and vulnerable people, who take enormous risks to migrate to Europe in rickety boats or concealed in the containers of articulated lorries, are familiar images portrayed in the media of “irregular migrants”. Irregular migration has become a major political concern both at the European level and in the wider international context. In the European Union, politicians have identified irregular migration as a “problem” and have given priority to preventing this phenomenon in the development of the common asylum and immigration policy. This collection of essays is the outcome of an international conference on Irregular Migration and Human Rights, which gathered together prominent scholars, policy-makers and practitioners working in the migration and human rights field. The objective of the book, in contrast to the prevailing political approach which focuses almost solely on prevention, is to discuss the human rights dimensions of irregular migration from theoretical, European and international perspectives. The book is divided into five substantive parts: the complex question of who is an irregular migrant and the difficulties in assessing the size of irregular movements: official and popular perceptions of irregular migrants, a debate which is frequently considered in terms of security concerns, asylum, and human trafficking and smuggling; the myriad strands of the developing EU law and policy on irregular migration, such as the adoption of readmission agreements, and the relationship of this law and policy to external border controls in the context of EU enlargement and other non-legal means of EU decision-making; the contributions of international and non-governmental actors to charting a rights-based approach to irregular migration; and the problems these vulnerable persons face while resident in host countries, such as discrimination and denial of access to social rights and public services, which is inextricably bound up with their irregular status.