The Case of Hirsi Jamaa et Al. V. Italy: the Trend of Irregular Immigration Taking Place in the Mediterranean Sea

The case of Hirshi Jamaa et al. v. Italy originated in Application No. 27765/09 against the Italian Republic lodged with the European Court of Human Rights, under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms by eleven Somali nationals and thirteen Eritrean nationals. The sentence, which condemned Italy, was pronounced by the Court, sitting as Grand Chamber, on 23 February 2012. It facilities the description of legal, social and political processes involved in the trend of irregular immigration taking place in the Mediterranean Sea by introducing units of analysis and research paradigms that are not built on the methodological nationalism of much migration discourse. This sentence has radically contributed towards overcoming the normative division of the world into territorially defined, sovereign (nation)-states, and within these states, the ubiquitous division enacted between more or less right-full members (citizens) and relatively right-less non-members (aliens). The right to have rights of irregular immigrants, pointed out by the Court in this case, is the practice of freedom which introduces the transnationalism.