The Best Interests of the Refugee Child and Their Right to Family Reunification in Europe
The Best Interests of the Refugee Child and Their Right to Family Reunification in Europe

Summary/Abstract: The paper gives an analysis of a legal framework of the best interests of the child principle applicable on EU member states when refugee children exercise their right to family reunification.1 A legal analysis of the best interests of the child principle in the Convention on the rights of the child and relevant soft law documents is provided. It deals with the comparison of the regulation in the EU Charter of fundamental rights and the Convention on the rights of the child and an engagement of the Court of Justice of the EU with the Convention. Some practical examples of member states practices when applying Common European Asylum System legislation in the family reunification context are given, while assessing the compliance of these practices with the best interests of the child principle. Relevant case law of the CJEU and examples of national courts’ decisions relating to interpretation of the best interests of the child principle are analysed to provide a complex legal framework of this matter.

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