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Beyond Strasbourg: The Chișinău Declaration in Europe’s Multi-Level Human Rights Architecture

July 20, 2026

Political declarations are not new to the system established through the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The Chișinău Declaration, recently adopted by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, nevertheless differs from earlier declarations that primarily addressed institutional questions, subsidiarity and the relationship between Strasbourg and domestic authorities. It engages directly with substantive questions under Articles 3 and 8 ECHR in the sensitive field of migration, articulating expectations concerning Convention obligations and flagging doctrinal questions, such as the scope for the expulsion of certain groups of migrants. These substantive dimensions have understandably attracted considerable scholarly attention and prompted concern and criticism. The Chișinău Declaration’s novelty extends beyond these substantive dimensions, though. For the first time, a political declaration expressly addresses domestic courts alongside the ECtHR. This move matters. Domestic courts occupy a central position within the Convention system. Yet they also form part of a broader interpretative environment in which Convention rights are interpreted and applied by judicial and quasi-judicial actors operating within and beyond that system.

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The New EU Return Regulation: A Step Towards Crimmigration?

July 14, 2026

In mid-June 2026, the European Parliament gave its final approval to the amendments to the European Union’s policy on the return of third-country nationals staying irregularly on Union territory. With 418 votes in favour, 218 against, and 30 abstentions, the new Return Regulation, which replaces Directive 2008/115/EC, formally aims to “speed up…

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Migration in Times of Fascization

June 23, 2026

In May 2025, the infamous “letter of the nine” was published. In it, the governments of nine European states laid out their vision of various anti-migrant policies and called for “a new and open minded [sic.] conversation about the interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights”. The case-law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR),…

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The Chișinău Declaration in the Data: Non-Refoulement and States’ Insatiable Appetite for a Restrained Court

June 19, 2026

There is a striking hidden controversy at the heart of the recent Chișinău Declaration issued by the members of the Council of Europe on May 15, 2026. All 46 member states have adopted a coordinated demand, asking that the European Court of Human Rights (the Court, the ECtHR) in particular to narrow their interpretation of Article 3 (the…

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Can the Living Instrument Doctrine Be Reversed?

June 17, 2026

On 15 May 2026, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoE), meeting at ministerial level in Chişinău (Republic of Moldova), adopted a declaration in which the European Court of Human Rights (‘the Court’) was called upon to recalibrate the standard of human rights protection in the field of migration policy. Much has been written…

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