them with sufficient information on their detention.169
2. The Right to an Effective Remedy
Procedures grounded in EU and European law must include the right to an effective remedy. Article 13 ECHR
guarantees the right to an effective remedy before a national authority against violations of rights and freedoms
laid down in the Convention. Where fundamental rights violations are at stake, the remedy must thoroughly
and accurately examine such risks.170 Article 47 CFR enshrines the right to an effective remedy in EU law.
Paragraph 1 of Article 47 establishes that “everyone whose rights and freedoms guaranteed by the law of the
Union are violated has the right to an effective remedy before a tribunal in compliance with the conditions laid
down in this Article.” Under Article 52(3) CFR, the rights laid out in Article 47 must be equal to or greater in
scope as those provided for in Article 13 ECHR. However, the CJEU has interpreted Article 47 to specifically
include the right to an effective remedy before a court.171 Article 47 requires an effective judicial remedy against
both the rights laid down in the CFR itself and those established elsewhere in EU law, making it broader in
scope than Article 13.172
Article 5 (4) ECHR guarantees “everyone who is deprived of his liberty by arrest or detention” the right to “take
proceedings by which the lawfulness of his detention shall be decided speedily by a court and his release ordered
if the detention is not lawful”173 Article 6 (4) CFR establishes the same right using the same language as Article
5 (4).174 Secondary EU asylum law also directly provides for the right to an effective remedy, particularly where
the state deprives a person of her liberty. The RCD specifically guarantees applicants who are detained effective
access to necessary procedural guarantees, including a remedy before a national judicial authority.175 Similarly,
the RD requires Member States to provide for “a speedy judicial review of the lawfulness of detention to be
decided on as speedily as possible” or to grant the person “the right to take proceedings by means of which the
lawfulness of detention shall be subject to a speedy judicial review . . .”176
The right to an effective remedy both protects a person’s fundamental rights and safeguards the legal system
as a whole.177 When a person’s fundamental rights are at stake, as is the case when they are detained and under
the full custody of the state, the CJEU has held that it is particularly important for judicial protection to be
effective.178 The ECtHR has similarly taken a stricter approach to the right to an effective remedy in cases
involving the prohibition of torture and inhuman and degrading treatment (Article 3) and, on a more limited
basis, in the case of detention (Article 5).179 Any orders or decisions issued by the authorities must provide clear
reasoning and be “sufficiently detailed”, a principle stemming from Article 296 on the Treaty of the Functioning
of the EU and Article 41(2) of the Charter, codified in Article 9 of the Procedures Directive.180 Finally, in order
169
170
171
172
ECtHR, Judgement of 15/12/2016, No. 16483/12, Khlaifa and Others v Italy, paras 132-135.
ECtHR Judgment of 21 January 201, No. 30696/09, M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece, para. 387.
Case 222/84 Johnston [1986] ECR 16510 15 May 1986.
Cf. Only Lübbe, The Elephant in the Room, Verfassungsblog 19/02/2020, available at: https://bit.ly/3gOzwyW [last accessed:
22/06/2021].
173 Art. 5 (4) ECHR.
174 Art. 6 (4) CFR.
175 Preamble para 15 RCD.
176 Art. 15 (2) Directive 2008/115/EC.
177 CJEU, Judgement of 15 October 1987, UNECTEF v Heylens and others, 222/86; CJEU, Judgement of 7 May 1991, Irène
Vlassopoulou contro Ministerium für Justiz, Bundes- und Europaangelegenheiten Baden-Württemberg, C-340/89.
178 CJEU, Judgement of 18 January 2007, Osman Ocalan, on behalf of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Serif Vanly, on behalf
of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) v Council of the European Union, C-229/05, para 110.
179 ECtHR, Judgement of 13/12/2016, No. 26623/07, Kaya v. Turkey; ECtHR, Judgement of 25/05/1998, No. 15/1997/799/1002,
Kurt v. Turkey,
180 Article 296 TFEU and Article 41 of the Charter are directed towards the Institutions of the EU. However, from the case-law of
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DETENTION OF MIGRANTS ON THE ISLAND OF KOS
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