Call for Papers: Białostockie Studia Prawnicze [Bialystok Legal Studies] Journal, issue 4/2022: “The aptness of the European integration project to manage and govern irregular migration. A legal perspective.”

The next issue of the BSP Journal is occasioned by the convergence of two political occurrences. The first is the growing number of migrants at the Eastern border of Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, and hence at the external border of the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) and the Schengen Area, fleeing the war-torn, repressed and impoverished countries, and – most recently (August 2021) – Afghanistan. The second is the – roughly – fifth anniversary of the so-called 2015 irregular migration crisis in Europe, the reflection on which is currently necessitated precisely due to a new wave of migrants ante portas of Europe.

In 2018, the undersigned together with Amy Weatherburn and Dariusz Kloza, co-edited an anthology reflecting on the said migration crisis from the viewpoint of widely understood democracy, the rule of law (Rechtsstaat) and fundamental rights. The editors concluded the said book with a few suggestions as to the ‘direction in which Europe should go whenever irregular migrants stand ante portas’.

Triggered by the recent events, with the next upcoming issue, the BSP Journal aims to reflect on the aptness of the European integration project to manage and govern irregular migration in accordance with the values and principles to which it has subscribed.

With the present Call for Papers, the BSP Journal seeks original contributions on the legal aspects of topics such as:
▪ the protection of fundamental rights of irregular migrants,
▪ the (reformed) legal framework for migration in the EU/EEA/Schengen, e.g., the EU large-scale databases and their interoperability;
▪ the criminalization of migration;
▪ the extent to which the EU/EEA/Schengen and their Member States fulfil obligations stemming from their own migration law, e.g., the Dublin system,
▪ the extent to which the EU/EEA/Schengen and their Member States fulfil their obligations stemming from international humanitarian law, e.g., the Geneva Conventions;

Contributions can focus on the European or national levels (e.g., country reports), or both; postulates. De lege ferenda essays are equally welcome.

Submissions, ranging from 2800 to 6000 words, in British English, shall be submitted for a double, blind peer-review to bsp@uwb.edu.pl, before 15 January 2022, to prof. UwB, dr hab. Elżbieta Kużelewska, Editor-in-Chief.

Białostockie Studia Prawnicze (BSP; ‘Bialystok Legal Studies’) is a quarterly published under the auspices of the Faculty of Law of the University of Bialystok since 2006. Each number is dedicated to one specific theme. Articles in BSP primarily address traditional questions of legal interest. The scope of the journal includes all branches of law – civil, criminal, administrative, constitutional, corporate, international, European, as well as legal theory. Authors include both established and early-career legal scholars and practitioners. BSP is a peer reviewed journal. In addition to research articles, BSP publishes commentaries. Articles are published in Polish and English.

Contact Person: prof. UwB, dr hab. Elżbieta Kużelewska

E-Mail: ekuzelewska@gmail.com