The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration: A Commentary

The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) is the first intergovernmental agreement adopted by the United Nations to address all dimensions of international migration. This authoritative legal commentary provides a comprehensive and insightful analysis of the Compact's normative foundations, legal content, and policy relevance, serving scholars, practitioners, and policymakers concerned with international law and migration governance.

Beginning with a critical examination of its preamble, vision, and guiding principles, the book explores the normative aspirations that underpin the GCM, highlighting its grounding in state sovereignty, responsibility-sharing, non-discrimination, and human rights. It then provides detailed commentary on each of the Compact's twenty-three objectives, assessing their legal content, policy orientation, and alignment with existing international legal frameworks. The commentary also situates each objective within the broader contexts of human rights and migration governance, while evaluating its potential to influence both national legislation and international practice. Crucially, the book also addresses the mechanisms and challenges of implementation, unveiling how states, international organizations, local authorities, and non-state actors—including civil society and the private sector—interpret and operationalize the Compact's provisions.

Bridging legal scholarship, critical perspectives, and real-world practice, this commentary offers an in-depth analysis of the role and relevance of international law and intergovernmental cooperation on one of the most polarized issues of our times. It also contributes a forward-looking assessment of the Compact's role in shaping the future of global migration governance.

Research for the book was supported by the nccr - on the move, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation grant 51NF40-205605.