Complementary Pathways as “Genuine and Effective Access to Means of Legal Entry” in the Reasoning of the European Court of Human Rights

Complementary pathways are often viewed as an entirely political matter. While there is no legal obligation for states to introduce such, this article shows that their presence or absence has a bearing on how the ECtHR assesses compliance with the prohibition of collective expulsion of aliens. This concrete interaction between complementary pathways and human rights law has been introduced through the requirement of “genuine and effective access to means of legal entry” in the case law of the ECtHR. This article clarifies this requirement and assesses its general significance for the role of complementary pathways as a promotor of or a hindrance to human rights protection.