The push for more restrictive migration policies from some European governments has pivoted toward Europe's top human rights court. Spearheaded by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen, nine European Union member states have penned an open letter calling for a reinterpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights to make it easier to "expel foreign national criminals."

The leaders' exact demands are unclear. The signatories say their goal is to "launch a new and open-minded conversation" rather than elicit quick legal changes, but the move in itself is controversial, sparking questions about judicial independence in Europe and the legal architecture designed to protect human rights.

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The convention is an international treaty that was drafted and signed some 75 years ago in the aftermath of World War II. It spells out fundamental rights and freedoms for signatory states, such as the prohibition of torture, the right to a fair trial, and freedom of expression. In the 1960s, it was updated to ban the death penalty.

The convention forms the legal backbone of the Council of Europe, the continent's top human rights body. The organization is older than the European Union, and includes most of the continent's countries — it comprised 47 countries until Russia was suspended and then left in 2022 over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Individuals who believe their rights........

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