Uppsala Forum Guest Lecture: Regional Free Movement of People Law as a New Subfield of Research in International Law

A powerful narrative presents the response to the global challenge of migration as the erection of borders. This paper explores its apparent converse: the easing of borders at the regional level. There are now policies and laws facilitating the free movement of people in at least thirty-three regional organizations involving 174 states, in addition to numerous bilateral agreements and domestic norms. Yet little work has been done to understand their scope. This Article defines a new field of study for international law, labelled as regional free movement of people law, and systematically presents its components. 

Diego Acosta is Professor in European Migration Law at the Law Department, University of Bristol. His work discusses Migration Law as a central aspect of globalisation and analyses various processes of inclusion and exclusion and their implications for the rule of law in Europe, Latin America and elsewhere.