Europe's top court on Friday questioned the legitimacy of the "safe countries" list Italy uses to send migrants to Albania and fast-track their asylum claims, in a fresh blow to a key plank of the government's migration policy.

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 dealt a major blow to Italy’s flagship migration policy on Friday, backing Italian judges who had challenged a list of "safe countries" used by Rome to deport migrants to Albanian detention centres.