France - Council of State, 22 October 2012, n° 328265
Keywords:
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Assessment of facts and circumstances
Description
The duty of the state to carry out an individual assessment of all relevant elements of the asylum application according to the provisions of Article 4 of the Qualification Directive, including considering past persecution and credibility; and the duty of the applicant to submit as soon as possible all statements and documentation necessary to substantiate the application. |
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Country of origin information
Description
"Information used by the Member States authorities to analyse the socio-political situation in countries of origin of applicants for international protection (and, where necessary, in countries through which they have transited) in the assessment, carried out on an individual basis, of an application for international protection.” It includes all relevant facts as they relate to the country of origin at the time of taking a decision on the application, obtained from various sources, including the laws and regulations of the country of origin and the manner in which they are applied, regulations of the country of origin, plus general public sources, such as reports from (inter)national organisations, governmental and non-governmental organisations, media, bi-lateral contacts in countries of origin, embassy reports, etc. This information is also used inter alia for taking decisions on other migration issues, e.g. on return, as well as by researchers. One of the stated aims of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) is to progressively bring all activities related to practical cooperation on asylum under its roof, to include the collection of Country of Origin Information and a common approach to its use. |
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Personal circumstances of applicant
Description
The range of factors such as background, gender, age, and individual position which must to be taken into account in the assessment of an application for international protection per Article 4(3)(c) of the Qualification Directive. |
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Procedural guarantees
Description
“In the interests of a correct recognition of those persons in need of protection … every applicant should, subject to certain exceptions, have an effective access to procedures, the opportunity to cooperate and properly communicate with the competent authorities so as to present the relevant facts of his/her case and sufficient procedural guarantees to pursue his/her case throughout all stages of the procedure.” Procedures should satisfy certain basic requirements, which reflect the special situation of the applicant for refugee status, and which would ensure that the applicant is provided with certain essential guarantees. Some of these basic requirements are set out in on p.31 of the UNHCR Handbook as well as the APD Arts. 10, 17 and 34 and include: a personal interview, the right to legal assistance and representation, specific guarantees for vulnerable persons and regarding the examination procedure, and those guarantees set out in the Asylum Procedures Directive. |
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Relevant Documentation
Description
“All documentation at the applicants disposal regarding the applicant's age, background, including that of relevant relatives, identity, nationality(ies), country(ies) and place(s) of previous residence, previous asylum applications, travel routes, identity and travel documents and the reasons for applying for international protection.” |
Headnote:
Where information used by the National Asylum Court (CNDA) to reach its decision is information concerning the asylum seeker’s specific situation, it must be kept on file so that the parties can take note of it and discuss it.
Facts:
The applicant requested the Council of State to quash the CNDA’s decision rejecting his application to quash the decision of the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (Ofpra).
Decision & reasoning:
Firstly, the Council of State held that it is for the CNDA, in exercising its power of inquiry, to investigate all useful information allowing the facts to be established on which its decision will be based. To this end, the Court may use general information readily available to the public (the source of which it must state in its decision) without filing it.
However, the CNDA may not then base its decision on the results of its investigations until it has filed those documents containing information capable of confirming or invalidating circumstances of fact relating to the particular asylum seeker or specific to his account, in order that the parties may take note of them and discuss them.
In the case in point, the Council of State held that the CNDA had based its decision on information capable of confirming or invalidating circumstances of fact relating to the particular asylum seeker or specific to his account, which had not been submitted inter partes, and had therefore vitiated its decision through an irregularity.
Outcome:
The decision of the CNDA was quashed.
The case was referred back to the CNDA.
Relevant International and European Legislation:
Cited National Legislation:
| Cited National Legislation |
| France - Ceseda (Code of the Entry and Stay of Foreigners and Asylum Law) |
| France - CJA (Code of Administrative Justice) |