This article addresses the legal aspects of assessing the age of foreign minors. It is a juxtaposition of the development of international legal standards in this area with the law and practice of the Polish authorities. The basic thesis of this analysis is the statement that Polish law in its current form requires fundamental change with respect to at least three elements. First, it is necessary to extend the methods of age assessment to also include non-medical methods. Secondly, the law should clearly define the legal form in which the age of a foreigner is determined and, at the same time, impose an obligation to provide a foreigner with the results of the assessment. Thirdly, a person concerned should have a direct opportunity to appeal.

In the summer of 2021 deliberate actions by the Belarusian state authorities led to a huge increase of people irregularly crossing the border from Belarus to Poland. Instead of addressing this humanitarian crisis, the Polish government responded with actions that were in violation of its international obligations and domestic law. Among these measures was carrying out “pushbacks” and grounding them in Polish domestic law. “Pushbacks” are the practice of returning people to the border without assessing their individual situation. The formalization of those practices in 2021 was done within two legal frameworks; one interim and one permanent. They continue to function in parallel while containing different provisions. This article assesses the two frameworks’ compatibility with domestic and international law and concludes that they both violate domestic and international rules. In the context of EU law, the article demonstrates the incompatibility of the two frameworks with the so-called Asylum Procedures Directive and Return Directive. The article further argues that the pushbacks violate the European Convention of Human Rights and would not fall within the exceptions to the prohibition of collective expulsions.