Making pushback facts visible: a review of tools in existing case law and the procedural framework of the European Court of Human Rights

Baranowska G, Alpes J, Kienzle I (2025)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2025

Journal

International journal of human rights Routledge

DOI: 10.1080/13642987.2025.2531790

Abstract

Pushbacks are practices which result in migrants being forced across borders without an individual assessment of their protection needs. Pushback facts, however, often remain invisible in ECtHR case law because judges rely on state evidence, while states do not consistently record their practice and prevent migrants and civil society organisations from producing evidence. Additionally, states have at times failed to submit requested evidence or submit wrong or incomplete information. Our article intervenes in this problematic context to ask whether and how the ECtHR can make pushback facts visible. Combining case law analysis with an empirical analysis of adjudication and litigation practices, we argue that the ECtHR can make pushback facts visible by mobilising existing tools to gather more evidence and analyse existing evidence in the light of the above-described context. With this argument, we highlight and bridge a crucial divide: while social sciences illuminate the context of evidence gathering, legal scholarship focuses on the analysis of evidence. By interweaving both approaches, this interdisciplinary article proposes a way forward that is both supportive for the ECtHR in its assessment of the factual circumstances of pushback cases, whilst also effective in view of existing case law and the procedural framework.

Authors with CRIS profile

Grazyna Baranowska
Isabel Kienzle Fachbereich Rechtswissenschaft

Involved external institutions

Hertie School of Governance GmbH DE Germany (DE) Universiteit Gent (UGent) / Ghent University BE Belgium (BE)

How to cite

APA:

Baranowska, G., Alpes, J., & Kienzle, I. (2025). Making pushback facts visible: a review of tools in existing case law and the procedural framework of the European Court of Human Rights. International journal of human rights. https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2025.2531790

MLA:

Baranowska, Grażyna, Jill Alpes, and Isabel Kienzle. "Making pushback facts visible: a review of tools in existing case law and the procedural framework of the European Court of Human Rights." International journal of human rights (2025).

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