UNIVERSITY OF COLOGNE

The thesis focusses on the question whether European states are responsible under international human rights law, in particular under European Convention on Human Rights, when they outsource their migration control to third states. During the last 20 years, states from the Global North such as the EU member states but also Australia and the USA have resorted to supporting transit states or states or origin in their migration controls. The thesis looks at the legal implications of these policies. The concepts of state responsibility and jurisdiction under the ECHR are analysed, linked to each other, and put into the context of proxy migration control. The thesis also includes an analysis on the responsibility of member states when the European Union is involved. Suggestions are made how the substantive rights of the Convention can apply in this context.