The jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights in interpreting Article 4 of Protocol 4 of the ECHR in the era of mass migration – the case of N.D. and N.T. v. Spain and the legislative system

Abstract

This article analyzes mass migration within the framework of the European Convention on Human Rights, using the case of N.D. and N.T. v. Spain as a case study. The case concerns the immediate return of migrants who attempted to enter the Spanish enclave of Melilla by scaling the border fences as part of a large group. The analysis examines how the European Court of Human Rights interpreted the prohibition of collective expulsions set out in Article 4 of Protocol No. 4 and its relationship to the existence of real and effective means of access to legal procedures for entry and for applications for international protection. In the Grand Chamber judgment, the Court underscored the importance of such legal means and gave weight to the applicants' conduct, concluding, in the circumstances of the case, that there had been no violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. In parallel, the paper builds on the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights' observations on the risks of summary return practices and the need for procedural guarantees, including identification, access to the asylum procedure, linguistic and legal assistance, and effective monitoring, to ensure respect for fundamental rights.