Case of MSS v. Belgium and Greece: A catalyst in the re-thinking of the Dublin II Regulation

Abstract

On 21 January 2011, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights delivered its Judgment in M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece in which it held that the applicant, an Afghan national, had suffered a violation of his rights by virtue of his return to Greece by Belgian authorities acting on the strength of the Dublin II Regulation. This is the first Judgment that the Court has delivered on the Dublin II Regulation and it comes at a time of effective stalemate within the Council of the European Union regarding its amendment. This article seeks to highlight the significance of this Judgment insofar as relates to the application of the Dublin Regulation and the Court’s role in safeguarding the supremacy of the fundamental rights of asylum-seekers even in the face of grave difficulties in managing mass influxes of asylum-seekers on the part of the Member States forming the external borders of the European Union. In doing so, the Court has asserted the fact that the premise upon which the Dublin Regulation is based is no longer tenable and has highlighted the ever-increasing need for a true European Union-wide spirit of solidarity on the part of all Member States.