Avrupa'da Sığınma Hukuku: Avrupa İnsan Hakları Mahkemesi'nin sığınma alanında hukuki standartlara yaptığı katkılar

The thesis aims to investigate the active role of the European Court of Human Rights (Court) in the interpretation and application of the fundamental rights and principles in the field of asylum law. This research framework focuses on the question: To what extent has the Court contributed to the legal standards of asylum protection? The study examines, firstly, fundamental rights and principles set out in the main international instruments in order to explore the legal bases of asylum law. Then, it analyses the EU asylum acquis based on its background and its legal context with the aim of tracing the development of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS). This analysis aims to explore the rights and procedures presented in the EU secondary legislation establishing the CEAS. In light of these examinations, finally, the study focuses on the related articles of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and their applicability to asylum cases. Based on the assessment of the Court's case-law, the thesis presents its findings in the area of the Dublin procedure, non-refoulement principle, collective expulsion and detention to argue for the contributory role of the Court to asylum law. The thesis shows how the Court has interpreted the ECHR and improved the legal standards of the common principles in asylum law. Further, the study provides a comparative chart which lists the rights and principles presented in international law, European Union law and the ECHR law as well as the leading cases of the Court. Keywords: Asylum law, Common European Asylum System, European Convention on Human Rights, European Court of Human Rights.