The State of the European Union. The European Parliament faces its most important elections yet

GLOBAL AGREEMENTS ON MIGRATION AND REFUGEES: CHALLENGES AND PROPOSALS 95 whatever their administrative situation may be. In the case of the government of Spain, this im- plies halting illegal pushbacks at border points and guaranteeing access and respect of mi- grants’ human rights. This is an issue meriting special attention for being the object of an appeal currently being considered in the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in which several organisations including the Comisión Española de Ayuda al Refugiado (CEAR) have intervened in written proceedings as third parties. The appeal in question was lodged by the Spanish government in response to an ECHR ruling issued on 3 October 2017 that the forced ‘hot’ expulsion from Melilla of two Sub- Saharan migrants in August 2014 was illegal. The judgement handed down in this case indicated that the issue of whether or not the line formed by state security forces had been crossed was immaterial and persons scaling bor- der fencing and in the area immediately past that fencing were in both cases under Spanish jurisdiction. On this basis, the court ruled that the two individuals lodging the case had been under the continuous and exclusive control of Spanish authorities and had been summarily re- turned to Moroccan territory against their will without their individual circumstances having been duly considered. In light of these facts, the court concluded that the two plaintiffs had been the objects of a collective expulsion, a practice violating Article 4 Protocol 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). This conclusion coincides with the opinion CEAR had presented to the ECHR. In its written intervention, the organisation also stressed that the two plaintiffs had not been subjected to any administrative procedure, had not received legal assistance or been provided with an interpreter and had not been afforded the opportunity to request international protection, all of which constituted serious violations of their human rights. In its intervention before the Grand Chamber of the ECHR, CEAR pointed to the prohibition of collective expulsions established in Article 4 Protocol 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights, regardless of the term used to describe the practice of summary return. It also emphasised that the creation of reception of- fices in Ceuta and Melilla did not constitute any guarantee of respect for the principle of non- refoulement or human rights in general, an is- sue of great concern considering that since October 2014 no application for asylum had been formally lodged at the border post in Ceuta and the four lodged by Sub-Saharan mi- grants in Melilla since that time had all been presented in the city of Ceuta rather than the border post located there. Pushbacks at the border violated other legal instruments in addition to Article 4 Protocol 4 of the ECHR including various dispositions or in- struments of EU law such as EU directives on asylum 3 and EU directives establishing common standards and procedures for the return of ir- regular third-country nationals within the terri- tory of EU Member States. 4 All three documets 3  Directive 2013/32/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection (recast). Available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/ PDF/?uri=CELEX:32013L0032&from=en 4  Directive 2013/33/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 laying down standards for the reception of applicants for international protection (recast). Available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/ PDF/?uri=CELEX:32013L0033&from=EN and Directive 2008/115/EC of the European Parliament and Council of 16 December 2008 on common standards and procedures in Member States for returning illegally staying third-country nationals. Available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-con tent/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32008L0115&from=EN