Criminalization, Administrative Control, and the Contradictory Role of Law in the European Border Regime
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32387/prokla.v56i224.2252Keywords:
Administrative Law, Border Regime, Criminal Law, Legal Struggles, Search and RescueAbstract
This article examines the growing shift in state interventions against civil search and rescue (SAR) organizations in the Mediterranean from criminal law to administrative law. Based on an analysis of 86 criminal and administrative proceedings against SAR organizations between 2017 and 2025, it argues that this transformation of state criminalization strategies is the result of ongoing legal struggles, whose trajectory is shaped by the different institutional selectivities of criminal and administrative law.
Downloads
References
Bretthauer, Lars u.a. (Hg.) (2006): Poulantzas lesen. Zur Aktualität marxistischer Staatstheorie. Hamburg.
Buckel, Sonja (2006): Die juridische Verdichtung der Kräfteverhältnisse. In: Bretthauer u.a. (2006): 171-187.
– (2013): »Welcome to Europe« – Die Grenzen des europäischen Migrationsrechts. Juridische Auseinandersetzungen um das »Staatsprojekt Europa«. Bielefeld.
Buckel, Sonja u.a. (2017): The European Border Regime in Crisis. Theory, Methods and Analyses in Critical European Studies. Rosa Luxemburg Studien 8/2017. URL: https://www.rosalux.de/en/publication/id/38197/the-european-border-regime-in-crisis/, Zugriff: 30.6.2026.
Buckel, Sonja / Pichl, Maximilian / Vestena, Carolina (2021): Rechtskämpfe: Eine gesellschaftstheoretische Perspektive auf strategische Prozessführung und Rechtsmobilisierung. In: Zeitschrift für Kultur- und Kollektivwissenschaft 7(1): 45-82. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14361/zkkw-2021-070104. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14361/zkkw-2021-070104
Chertoff, Emily (2024): Violence in the Administrative State. In: California Law Review 112(6): 1941-2004. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15779/Z38WH2DG6R.
Cusumano, Eugenio / Villa, Matteo (2021): From »Angels« to »Vice Smugglers«: The Criminalization of Sea Rescue NGOs in Italy. In: European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research 27(1): 23-40. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10610-020-09464-1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10610-020-09464-1
Euronews (2019a): El bloqueo del barco Aita Mari evidencia el giro de política migratoria del Gobierno de España (21.1.). URL: https://es.euronews.com/2019/01/21/el-gobierno-de-espana-impide-la-salida-del-barco-de-rescate-de-migrantes-aita-mari, Zugriff: 9.7.2026.
Euronews (2019b): El Ministerio de Fomento español bloquea al Open Arms en el puerto de Barcelona (14.1.). URL: https://es.euronews.com/2019/01/14/el-ministerio-de-fomento-espanol-bloquea-al-open-arms-en-el-puerto-de-barcelona, Zugriff: 9.7.2026.
Europäisches Parlament / Rat der Europäischen Union (2009): Richtlinie 2009/16/EG des Europäischen Parlaments und des Rates vom 23. April 2009 über die Hafenstaatkontrolle. Bd. 32009L0016.
Fischer-Lescano, Andreas (2021): From Strategic Litigation to Juridical Action. In: Saage-Maaß, Miriam u.a. (Hg.): Transnational Legal Activism in Global Value Chains. Cham: 299-312. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73835-8_15. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73835-8_15
Forschungsgruppe »Staatsprojekt Europa« (Hg.) (2014): Kämpfe um Migrationspolitik: Theorie, Methode und Analysen kritischer Europaforschung. Bielefeld.
– (2026): Über uns. URL: http://staatsprojekt-europa.eu/, Zugriff: 30.6.2026.
FRA (EU Agency for Fundamental Rights) (2025): Search and Rescue Operations in the Mediterranean and Fundamental Rights: June 2025 Update. European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights Publications Office. URL: https://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2025/june-2025-update-ngo-ships-sar-activities, Zugriff: 30.6.2026.
Graffin, Neil / Howard, Matt / Vincett, Joanne (2025): Criminalisation and Control: Mediterranean Maritime Search and Rescue Workers’ Perceptions of Uses of Law. In: Refugee Survey Quarterly 44(2): 228-251. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/rsq/hdae026. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/rsq/hdae026
Haley, John (2019): Rethinking Criminalization. In: Willamette Journal of International Law and Dispute Resolution 26(1/2): 1-41.
Hamburger, Philip (2014): Is Administrative Law Unlawful? Chicago/London. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226116457.001.0001. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226116457.001.0001
Heller, Charles / Pezzani, Lorenzo (2020): Forensic Oceanography: Tracing Violence Within and Against the Mediterranean Frontier’s Aesthetic Regime. In: Lynes, Krista u.a. (Hg.): Moving Images. Mediating Migration as Crisis. Bielefeld: 95-126. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839448274-009. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839448274-009
Jessop, Bob (1985): Nicos Poulantzas: Marxist Theory and Political Strategy. London. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-17950-3. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-17950-3
Kirchhoff, Maren (2021): Umkämpfte Grenze im Inneren Europas. In: Kritische Justiz 54(2): 190-202. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5771/0023-4834-2021-2-190. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5771/0023-4834-2021-2-190
Köck, Markus / Kirchhoff, Maren (2026, im Erscheinen): Prekär vertreten? Der voraussetzungsreiche Zugang zum deutschen Arbeitsrecht für transnationale Saisonarbeiter:innen. In: Herklotz, Tanja / Phan-Warnke, Lê (Hg.): Armut und Recht. Baden-Baden.
Kuge, Janika (2025): Bleiberecht jenseits des Nationalstaats. Kämpfe um Sanctuary Policy in den USA. Münster. DOI: https://doi.org/10.56715/978398634198. DOI: https://doi.org/10.56715/978398634198
Moreno-Lax, Violeta (2022): Towards a Thousand Little Morias: The EU (Non-)Rescue Scheme – Criminalising Solidarity, Structuralising Defection. In: Thym, Daniel / Odysseus Academic Network (Hg.): Reforming the Common European Asylum System. Baden-Baden: 161-186. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5771/9783748931164-161. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5771/9783748931164-161
MSF (Medici Senza Frontiere) (2018): Sequestro nave Aquarius. Inquietante e strumentale attacco per bloccare azione salvavita in mare. Médecins Sans Frontières. URL: https://www.medicisenzafrontiere.it/news-e-storie/news/sequestro-nave-aquarius-inquietante-e-strumentale-attacco-per-bloccare-azione-salvavita-in-mare/, Zugriff: 30.6.2026.
Natale, Andrea (2018): Open Arms: l’avviso di conclusione indagini. Se la disobbedienza diventa violenza … URL: https://www.questionegiustizia.it/articolo/open-arms-l-avviso-di-conclusione-indagini-se-la-disobbedienza-diventa-violenza_18-12-2018.php, Zugriff: 30.6.2026.
Pichl, Maximilian (2021): Rechtskämpfe: eine Analyse der Rechtsverfahren nach dem Sommer der Migration. Frankfurt/New York.
Procura della Repubblica presso il Tribunale di Ragusa (2018): Avviso di conclusione delle indagini preliminari (art. 415-bis c.p.p.). URL: https://www.questionegiustizia.it/data/doc/1815/avviso_conclusione_indagini_open_arms.pdf, Zugriff: 9.7.2026.
Procura di Palermo (2018): Richiesta di Archiviazione. 9039/17 R.G.N.R. Mod. 44. Procura della Repubblica presso il Tribunale di Palermo – Direzione Distrettuale Antimafia. URL: https://www.questionegiustizia.it/data/doc/1669/ong_richiesta_archiviazione_palermo.pdf, Zugriff: 30.6.2026.
Redazione (2019): Sea Watch 3, autorità olandesi: »La nave non può lasciare il porto di Catania« (14.2.). URL: https://catania.liveuniversity.it/2019/02/14/sea-watch-3-posizione-porto-catania/, Zugriff: 9.7.2026.
Rosenbloom, David (2006): Administrative Law and Regulation. In: Rabin, Jack / Hildreth, W. Bartley / Miller, Gerald J. (Hg.): Public Administration and Public Policy. Boca Raton: 635-696. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1201/9781420016994.ch17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1201/9781420016994.ch17
Schotel, Bas (2021): Administrative Law as a Dual State. Authoritarian Elements of Administrative Law. In: Hague Journal on the Rule of Law 13(1): 195-222. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40803-021-00156-4. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40803-021-00156-4
Sea-Watch (2019): Dutch Government Concedes: Sea-Watch 3 Sails to Scheduled Shipyard Maintenance in France. URL: https://sea-watch.org/en/sea-watch-3-sails-to-scheduled-shipyard-maintenance-in-france/, Zugriff: 30.6.2026.
Selmini, Rossella / Di Ronco, Anna (2023): The Criminalization of Dissent and Protest. In: Crime and Justice 52: 197-231. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/727553. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/727553
Statewatch (2018): The seizure of the Open Arms boat as a paradigm of the European Union’s war against human rights. Osservatorio Solidarietà della Carta di Milano. URL: https://www.statewatch.org/media/documents/analyses/no-327-open-arms-seizure.pdf, Zugriff: 30.6.2026.
Tribunale di Catania (2018): Decreto di Convalida e di Sequestro Preventivo. URL: https://www.questionegiustizia.it/data/doc/1600/decreto_convalida_sequestro_preventivo_tribunale_catania.pdf, Zugriff: 9.7.2026.
Tribunale di Ragusa (2018): Decreto di Rigetto di Richiesta di Sequestro Preventivo. URL: https://www.questionegiustizia.it/data/doc/1619/decreto_rigetto_sequestro_preventivo_tribunale_ragusa_gip.pdf, Zugriff: 9.7.2026.
