The Court of Justice of the European Union was asked to weigh in on whether Italy's accelerated asylum process — used to swiftly return migrants from countries not experiencing war or major crises — complies with EU law.

The specific case that led to the ECJ's opinion involved two Bangladeshi nationals who were rescued at sea by Italian authorities and taken to Italy's detention centre in Albania,

A ruling by the EU's top court has dealt a further blow to Italy's attempts to create a fast-track system in Albania for processing asylum applications offshore. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has said that the way the Italian government currently defines whether a country is "safe" to return someone whose application is rejected contravenes EU law.