Austria - Constitutional Court, 7 October 2010, U694/10

Facts:

The applicant is a single mother with three minor children; the youngest child is only nine months old. She entered the European Union via Greece. When she applied for asylum in Austria, her application was rejected and she received an expulsion order to Greece. The Asylum Court agreed with this decision. The applicant appealed to the Constitutional Court.

Decision & reasoning:

The Constitutional Court allowed the appeal.

The Court stated there is serious a risk of a violation of Art 3 ECHR in Greece because accommodation might not be provided. The applicant and her children are vulnerable persons. While there is the possibility of appropriate accommodation being provided, a premonitory assurance was not given. It is necessary that Greece ensure appropriate accommodation for vulnerable person in each case. The applicant and her children fall within the category of vulnerable persons. There is, therefore, a real risk of a violation of Art 3 ECHR if the applicant and her children are sent back to Greece.

Outcome:

The appeal was allowed.

Subsequent proceedings:

The family was admitted to the procedure on the merits.

Observations/comments:

Below is a list of similar Austrian decisions in relation to vulnerable persons and Dublin procedures with Greece:

• Afghan family with three children, mother pregnant (13 December 2010, U1441/10)
• Afghan family with three children, mother has a psychological disease (1 December 2010, U1523/09)
• A single mother with four minors (26 September 2011, U223/10)

The Consitiutional Court of Austria is only allowed to assess the points of law based on the information given during the procedure before the lower authorities. It is prohibited to introduce new facts or circumstances before the Constitutional Court.

This summary has been reproduced and adapted for inclusion in EDAL with the kind permission of Forum Réfugiés-Cosi, coordinator of Project HOME/2010/ERFX/CA/1721 "European network for technical cooperation on the application of the Dublin II regulation" which received the financial support of the European Refugee Fund.