‘Withdrawing’ from international and European treaties to control immigration : What does the law say ?

Interview with Ségolène Barbou des Places, expert in public law

Many political declarations from the right to the far-right evoke a “withdrawal” from International treaties and European commitments, with the aim of regaining control over immigration. But things are not as simple as they seem. An international convention is a binding contract between the parties involved, and the repercussions of withdrawal may be severe.

Further readings

• Glos­sary of terms rela­ting to treaty actions, United Nations website. URL : https://​trea​ties​.un​.org/​p​a​g​e​s​/​o​v​e​r​v​i​e​w​.​a​s​p​x​?​p​a​t​h​=​o​v​e​r​v​i​e​w​/​g​l​o​s​s​a​r​y​/​p​a​g​e​1​_​en.xml
• 1969 Vienna Conven­tion on the Law of Trea­ties. URL : https://​legal​.un​.org/​i​l​c​/​t​e​x​t​s​/​i​n​s​t​r​u​m​e​n​t​s​/​e​n​g​l​i​s​h​/​c​o​n​v​e​n​t​i​o​n​s​/​1​_​1​_​1​9​6​9.pdf/.

About the author

Ségo­lène Barbou des Places is a professor of public law at Univer­sité Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, a member of the Sorbonne Law School and a resear­cher at the Sorbonne Research Insti­tute for Inter­na­tional and Euro­pean Law (IREDIES, EA 4536). She is a CI Migra­tion fellow.

Cite this article

Ségo­lène Barbou des Places, “‘With­dra­wing’ from inter­na­tional and Euro­pean trea­ties to control immi­gra­tion : What does the law say?” in : Emeline Zoug­bédé, Michel Agier & Ségo­lène Barbou des Places (eds.), Feature “If France were to with­draw from inter­na­tional conven­tions?” De facto [online], 32 | March 2022. URL : https://www.icmigrations.cnrs.fr/en/2022/11/07/defacto-032–02/

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