Case summaries

Refugee Appeals Board/ Commission des recours des réfugiés (CRR) (CRR) held that the Somali government (Federal Transitional Government), was at the time of the decision, unable to effectively exercise organised power within Somali territory and under these circumstances to provide protection to the members of the Reer Hamar clan; no other authority is able to provide protection to the members of this community.

The court overturned a previous judgment which had held that a policy of refusing to tape record substantive asylum interviews was legal.

In assessing whether a state is a safe third country with regard to its interpretation of the 1951 Refugee Convention, it was not sufficient to assess whether the foreign state’s interpretation of the Convention was reasonable. The Secretary of State for the Home Department had to be satisfied that the foreign state applied the one true interpretation of the Convention decided upon by the UK Courts.

The Court of Appeal held that an asylum-seeker unable to return to his country of origin may indeed be entitled to recognition as a refugee provided only that the fear or actuality of past persecution still plays a causative part in his or her presence here. Further, the refusal of the State of nationality to permit return can constitute persecution.

This case involved a Somali refugee in Austria whose refugee status was ordered as forfeited after a criminal conviction. Because of the absolute nature of Art. 3, the Court found his criminal conviction immaterial and that he still faced a serious risk of persecution in Somalia, therefore Austria would breach its obligations under Art. 3 if his deportation was executed. 

The Court found that the French authorities had violated Article 5 para 1 of the Convention by holding four Somali nationals in the international zone of the Paris-Orly airport.