Chapter IV, Article 23 · Regulation (EU) 2026/2280

Contents

Article 23Alternatives to detention#

1.Member States may impose one or more of the following alternatives to detention, taking into account the individual circumstances of the third-country national concerned, including the level of the risk of absconding assessed in accordance with Article 19:

(a)deposit of an adequate financial guarantee;

(b)the use of electronic monitoring;

(c)measures other than those referred to in points (a) and (b) where provided for in national law.

2.The measures referred to in paragraph 1 shall primarily aim to ensure the effective and timely return of the third-country national.

3.A decision to apply the measures referred to in paragraph 1 shall state the relevant reasons of fact and of law.

4.Third-country nationals shall be informed in writing of any decision to apply the measures referred to in paragraph 1 and the consequence of non-compliance with that decision, including detention under Article 29.

5.Member States shall ensure that decisions to apply the measures referred to in paragraph 1 are reviewed by a court or tribunal upon application by the third-country national concerned or ex officio.

Defined terms · 11

Show every defined term

absconding
means the action by which a third-country national does not remain available to the competent administrative or judicial authorities;
country of return
means one of the following:
decision ordering removal
means an administrative or judicial act or decision stating or declaring that a third-country national can be removed to one or more countries of return;
entry ban
means an administrative or judicial act or decision prohibiting the entry into and stay on the territory of the Member States of a third-country national;
illegal stay
means the presence, on the territory of a Member State, of a third-country national who does not fulfil, or who no longer fulfils, the entry conditions for third-country nationals as set out in Article 6 of Regulation (EU) 2016/399, or the conditions for stay or residence in that Member State, or, in the case of a Member State not bound by that Regulation, the conditions for entry, stay or residence laid down in equivalent national law;
removal
means the enforcement of a return decision or a decision ordering removal by the competent authorities through physical transportation from the Member States to a country of return;
return
means the actions by which an illegally staying third-country national:
return decision
means an administrative or judicial act or decision, stating or declaring the stay of a third-country national to be illegal and stating or imposing an obligation for that third-country national to leave the territory of the Member States;
return operation
means an operation organised or coordinated by a competent authority or supported by Frontex by which third-country nationals are returned from one or more Member States.
third-country national
means any person who is not a citizen of the Union within the meaning of Article 20 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and who is not a person enjoying the right of free movement under Union law, as defined in Article 2, point (5), of Regulation (EU) 2016/399;
voluntary return
means the departure from the territory of the Member States on his or her own, with or without assistance, and without resorting to removal, of an illegally staying third-country national complying with the obligation to leave within or after the expiry of the departure period set out in the return decision;