Challenges to EU legality in the field of asylum and migration law

‘EU legality’ in EU migration and asylum laws can be considered as a double-edged sword. This chapter describes how, on the one hand, the CJEU, by the mere application of general principles of EU law, offered in its case-law important criteria strengthening the rights and legal protection of third-country nationals while, on the other hand, more recent developments show that the EU legislator, but also the CJEU, almost artificially excludes migration laws or decisions from the legal framework of the EU. It will be argued that developments of ‘re-nationalization’, the application of mutual trust, and the externalization of EU asylum and migration policies, challenge the applicability of general principles of EU legality, including the protection of fundamental rights and the right to effective judicial protection.