The Place and Role of International Human Rights Law in the EU Return Directive and in the Related cjeu Case-Law: Approaches Worlds Apart?

This contribution deals with the interactions of two functionally differentiated legal orders, i.e. supranational law (European Union (EU) law) and international human rights law, from the perspective of EU law, in a particular field of law: the expulsion/ return of irregular migrants. More specifically, it examines the place and role of international human rights law in the EU Return Directive (Directive 2008/ 115/ EC), which is the key EU law instrument relating to the return of migrants in an irregular situation (this field of law is called the “expulsion of aliens” in the UN International Law Commission’s parlance)and in the return related case- law of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU).