Right to asylum versus international child abduction

Abstract

The decision of European Union Court of Justice (ECJ) A against B, of August 2, 2021, confronts the legal framework of the right to asylum and of the international child abduction, and justifies the present commentary. The controversial issue resided in determining whether the transfer of a child to another Member State, due to an administrative decision taken in accordance with Regulation No. 604/2013, of 26 June 2013, establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an application for international protection lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country national or a stateless person (Dublin III Regulation) constituted an unlawful removal of children, pursuant to Regulation No. No 2201/2003, of 27 November 2003, concerning jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility (Brussels IIA Regulation) and the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Hague Convention). This case puts the legal framework of the international child abduction in conflict with the regime of the right to asylum. What is going to be analysed is in what terms it is possible to harmonize the application of both legal frameworks, taking into account the best.