Moritz Baumgärtel, Demanding Rights: Europe’s Supranational Courts and the Dilemma of Migrant Vulnerability (Cambridge University Press, 2019, xvii +187 pp, £29.99) ISBN 978–1–108-73388-5 (pb)

Abstract

1. INTRODUCTION
Moritz Baumgärtel’s book entitled Demanding Rights: Europe’s Supranational Courts and the Dilemma of Migrant Vulnerability offers remarkably clear insight into the impact of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) jurisprudence on the actual protection of the rights of vulnerable migrants. By delving into eight milestone decisions of both courts on the matter grouped into three broader categories according to the right they are addressing (or failing to do so), the author challenges our perception of the judicial effectiveness of European supranational courts. Deconstructing this perception, he brings to the surface inadequacies, impracticalities and lost opportunities for law development in the pro hominem direction, for the vindication of those wronged and their lawyers and for the compliance of ‘all actors subject to [the Courts’] authority’¹ with these decisions. Most importantly, though, he notes the smaller and larger victories and develops the lessons learned through them.