Proceedings of the International scientific and practical conference ―Science in the Era of Globalization‖ (May 22-24, 2026) / Publisher website: www.naukainfo.com. - Zurich, Switzerland, 2026. - 353 p.

71 Keywords: asylum seeker, refugee, international protection, non-refoulement, human rights, international law, European Union, European Court of Human Rights. The institution of asylum is one of the oldest means of protecting individuals from persecution and, at the same time, a complex international legal phenomenon combining humanitarian, political, and human rights elements. The etymological origin of the term ―asylum‖ from the Latin asylum (―inviolable place‖) provides grounds for considering the institution of asylum as a form of ensuring the inviolability, security, and legal protection of a person subjected to persecution or in need of international protection. In contemporary international law, asylum is regarded as a form of protection granted by a state to a foreigner or a stateless person who is outside the country of their nationality or habitual residence and is unable to return there due to a well-founded fear of persecution or a real risk of violation of their fundamental rights [1, pp. 443–444]. Despite the absence of a universally recognized ―right to asylum‖ as an absolute international guarantee, the contemporary protection system encompasses a set of norms that shape the content and legal regulation of this institution. The foundation of such regulation is formed by the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (hereinafter – the Convention) and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, as well as international human rights treaties, the provisions of which indirectly ensure the protection of persons seeking international protection [2, 3]. Unlike the legal status of a refugee, which is comprehensively regulated by the provisions of the 1951 Convention, the legal status of an asylum seeker does not have a single universal conventional definition. At the same time, international law has developed a body of treaty-based, customary, and institutional norms, as well as recommendatory acts of international organizations, aimed at ensuring minimum standards of treatment for persons applying for international protection [4]. From a legal perspective, the concept of ―asylum‖ has a dual nature. On the one hand, it constitutes an expression of state sovereignty, since each state independently determines the procedure for admitting foreigners to its territory and the conditions