The European Border and Coast Guard and fundamental rights

The European Convention on Human Rights and European Union law provide an increasingly important framework for the protection of the rights of foreigners. EU legislation relating to asylum, borders and immigration is developing fast. There is an impressive body of case law by the European Court of Human Rights relating in particular to Articles 3, 5, 8 and 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Court of Justice of the European Union is asked more and more frequently to pronounce on the interpretation of EU law provisions in this field. The fourth edition of this handbook, updated to June 2026, presents this EU
legislation and the body of case law by the two European courts in an accessible way. A new chapter in the handbook focuses on monitoring compliance with fundamental rights and investigations into rights violations. It is intended for legal practitioners, judges, prosecutors, immigration officials and non-governmental organisations in the EU and Council of Europe Member States.

** As of 19 September 2024 a new version of this guidance has been issued. Please see the link below. **

Fundamental rights monitoring at EU external borders should be systematically and regularly carried out for a range of border management activities. These include border surveillance, apprehensions at land, sea and air borders, and the operation of referral mechanisms, including in the event of mass arrivals. This general guidance provides assistance to EU Member States in setting up national independent mechanisms to monitor fundamental rights compliance at EU external borders, in line with the proposed screening regulation of 23 September 2020 by the European Commission. The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights prepared this guidance at the request of the Commission.