Case summaries
The case raises an issue under Article 1 of Protocol No. 7 to the Convention and concerns the expulsion of the applicant (a lawfully resident alien) on the grounds of national security. The applicant complained that the reasons for the revocation of his residence permit and for his expulsion had never been disclosed to him in detail. The Court ruled in favour of the applicant claiming that his right to be informed under Article 1 of Protocol No. 7 was violated.
Member States are required to take due account of the best interests of the child before adopting a return decision accompanied by an entry ban, even where the person to whom that decision is addressed is not a minor but his or her father.
The Return Directive does not prevent a Member State from placing in administrative detention a third-country national residing illegally on its territory, in order to carry out the forced transfer of that national to another Member State in which that national has refugee status, where that national has refused to comply with the order to go to that other Member State and it is not possible to issue a return decision to him or her.
Asylum applicants in Melilla and Ceuta can change their legal residence with the sole obligation of informing the relevant authorities.
A Union citizen’s lack of sufficient resources for their family member, who is a third-country national, not to become a burden on the national social system, cannot sufficiently establish a reason to refuse a derived right of residence on the basis of article 20 TFEU, if that refusal would result in the national having to leave the territory of the EU.
Secondly, a relationship of dependency does not exist solely because the national law requires spouses to live together.
The principle of effectiveness and the objectives of the Family Reunification Directive preclude domestic legislation that foresees the automatic issue of an entry and residence permit for family reunification on the sole ground that the time limit to decide on the application has expired without having established the substantial requirements for obtaining such a permit, e.g. family links.
The Algerian Kafala system does not create a parent/child relationship within the meaning of direct descendant under Directive 2004/38 but it does fall under the notion of other family members of Article 3(2)(a) of the same Directive. The State must therefore make a balanced and reasonable assessment which considering the age of the child, the closeness of the relationship whether the family have lived together; potential risk of exploitation/trafficking and the best interests of the child.
Residence permits obtained in the context of family reunification and long-term resident status, under Directives 2003/86 and 2003/109, may be withdrawn if they were issued on the basis of falsified documents, even if the holders were unaware of the fraud committed.
The High Court granted an order under section 4 of the Human Rights Act 1998 that the scheme of “Right to Rent” set out in sections 20-37 of the Immigration Act 2014 was incompatible with ECHR rights, along with a further order that it could not be extended beyond England without a further evaluation.
The recognition of gender identity is a matter of respect towards the individual’s personality, protected under Greek and international law and applicable by analogy to refugees. Refugees must be able to request assistance from the authorities of the host-country, as refugeehood entails severed ties with the country of origin making it impossible for recognised refugees to request official actions from their governments.