Lawless Borders
The Rule of Law Deficit in European Immigration Control
By Valsamis Mitsilegas, Elspeth Guild and Niovi Vavoula
Published
Jul 1, 2025Page count
176 pagesISBN
978-1529237788Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Bristol University PressPublished
Jul 1, 2025Page count
176 pagesISBN
978-1529237795Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Bristol University Press
Lawless Borders
Immigration control in the West has increasingly focused on preventing migrants from reaching the external border and the territory of states. This book provides an in-depth analysis of the evolving preventive immigration control system and highlights the many ways in which contemporary border controls undermine the rule of law.
By examining border control practices at the state and European levels (including by EU agencies and through the use of AI), the book explores how these measures affect the rule of law across different areas, including extraterritorial immigration control, control of the external borders, and the digitalisation of border control.
This is an essential resource, presenting a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of today’s border management challenges.
Valsamis Mitsilegas is Dean of the School of Law and Social Justice and Professor of European and Global Law at the University of Liverpool.
Elspeth Guild is Professor of Law at the University of Liverpool and College of Europe Bruges.
Niovi Vavoula is Associate Professor and Chair in Cyber Policy at the University of Luxembourg.
Introduction
Part I: The Rule of Law Deficit in State Border Control Practices: From the External to the Externalised Border
1. The Proliferation and Mutation of Extraterritorial Immigration Control
2. The Rule of Law Deficit on the Border: The EU Migration Pact
3. Border Control through the Hostile Environment
Part II: Border Violence and Rule of Law: Examining the Role of Frontex, in Lawless Border
4. Borders, Power and Accountability: The Case of Frontex
5. Frontex: Management and Internal Oversight
6. EU External Oversight of Frontex and Border Violence
Part III: The Erosion of the Rule of Law through the Development of Europe’s Techno-Borders
7. Technology-led Border Surveillance and the Rule of Law: Eurosur as a ‘Foggy’ Network of Information Exchange
8. EU Large-scale IT Systems for Third-country Nationals Beyond the Rule of Law
9. From Digitalisation to Algorithmisation in European Border Management: Automation, Artificial Intelligence and the Rule of Law
10. Conclusion
