The Case Law of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the EU Refugee Crisis

Since 2015 and the peaking of the EU's refugee crisis, the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) has been seriously challenged. In this crisis, the role of the EU's highest judicial authority, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), has been crucial. In this descriptive-analytical paper, the cases referred to the CJEU on refugee crisis after 2015 have been analyzed, to answer the question: from the perspective of CJEU practice, to what extent the CEAS has succeeded in managing the EU's refugee crisis? The CJEU’s case law has shown a sort of dichotomy that sometimes leans towards fundamental rights and sometimes in favor of the CEAS. Along with the gradual evolution of the court’s judgments related to the interpretation of the CEAS, the dichotomy is being resolved in favor of fundamental rights, which indicates the need for substantial reform of the CEAS. Due to the need of reforming and updating the Foreign Nationals law of Iran, in light of the CEAS’s trial and error, this paper provides a suitable basis for formulating a set of efficient laws for this purpose.