Friend, Foe and Foil: The Many Uses of Time by the European Court of Human Rights in Expulsion Cases

Recent years have seen a proliferation of academic literature on the case law of the European Court of Human Rights concerning expulsion of migrants whose claim to remain is based on their right to private and family life under Article 8 of the ECHR. This literature has highlighted the dynamic potential of Article 8, and has noted inconsistency in the outcomes of deportation cases. This article investigates an important but underexplored aspect of the Court’s deportation case law, namely, the Court’s approach to the issue of time. Drawing on a representative sample of cases, the article reveals that a focus on time puts a less inconsistent complexion on this strand of case law. It also illustrates that the Court is alive to the importance of time, timing and timeliness in expulsion cases, but finds little overt support in the Court’s rulings for the argument that the passage of time alone generates a bar to deportation.