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.

76 At the same time, the European system of protection for asylum seekers cannot be considered in isolation from the European Convention on Human Rights, which establishes mandatory minimum standards in the field of fundamental rights protection. Of particular importance are Articles 3 and 13 of the ECHR, where Article 3 enshrines the absolute prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment, while Article 13 guarantees the right to an effective remedy [15]. It is precisely through these provisions of the ECHR that the imperative nature of the principle of non-refoulement has been established within the legal order of the Council of Europe. The ECtHR case law plays a decisive role in specifying the standards discussed above. In Soering v. United Kingdom (1989), the ECtHR held for the first time that extradition may violate Article 3 in cases where there is a real risk of inhuman or degrading treatment in the receiving state [16]. In M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece (2011), the ECtHR found that the automatic application of the Dublin Regulation without assessing the actual reception conditions of asylum seekers may lead to a violation of the ECHR [17]. In Hirsi Jamaa v. Italy (2012), the ECtHR confirmed that the prohibition of refoulement also extends to actions carried out by states outside their territory, including the interception of migrants on the high seas [18]. Thus, taken together, EU primary and secondary law, the ECHR, and ECtHR case law form an integrated system for the protection of asylum seekers, combining normative, procedural, and judicial mechanisms for ensuring the principle of non-refoulement and guaranteeing effective access to international protection. Thus, the international legal institution of asylum is characterized by a multi- level structure and the dominance of imperative human rights standards, which ensure minimum guarantees for individuals in need of international protection. Its foundation is the obligation of states to prevent the return of persons to countries where there is a real risk of persecution or serious violations of human rights. This principle applies both to recognized refugees and asylum seekers and is further specified through universal human rights norms prohibiting expulsion in cases of a risk of torture or inhuman or degrading treatment. At the same time, the legal status of an asylum seeker remains less codified and less normatively unified compared to