THE European Court of Justice (ECJ) is to assess the legitimacy of Italian and EU laws that have been used to criminalise asylum-seekers, along with activists who have rescued and support them, across the continent.

Lawyer Francesca Cancellaro filed a constitutional compliant against article 12 of Italy’s Immigration Act, which criminalises the facilitation of unauthorised entry of foreigners into the country, during the trial in Bologna of a Congolese woman who used forged documents to enter Italy with her daughter and niece in the hope of receiving asylum in Europe.

Both the Italian legislation and the EU anti-smuggling law that underpins it have been used to criminalise refugees who steered the boat or car they arrived in, even if they did this under duress, and to prosecute activists for saving refugees’ lives.