France - Council of State, 6 February 2013, n° 353807
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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Relevant Facts
Description
An assessment of an application for international protection must take into account all relevant facts, including those relating to: the country of origin at the time of taking a decision on the application, including laws and regulations of the country of origin and the manner in which they are applied; relevant statements and documentation presented by the applicant; the individual position and personal circumstances of the applicant; and other matters set out in Article 4 of the Qualification Directive |
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Subsequent application
Description
Where a person who has applied for refugee status in a Member State makes further representations or a subsequent application in the same Member State. Member States may apply a specific procedure involving a preliminary examination where a decision has been taken on the previous application or where a previous application has been withdrawn or abandoned. As with all aspects of the procedures directive, the same provisions will apply to applicants for subsidiary protection where a single procedure applies to both applications for asylum and subsidiary protection. |
Headnote:
The final determination by an administrative court which quashed a decision returning an individual and determining the country of return on the grounds that the individual had substantiated the fear of persecution in the country of return, necessitated the admissibility before the asylum courts of an application for the matter to be re-examined. Based on this judgment, the National Asylum Court (CNDA) therefore had to re-examine all the facts submitted to it for determination.
Facts:
After twice having refugee status refused by the Ofpra and the CNDA, the Applicant re-applied to the Director General of the Ofpra for her case to be re-examined. This application was rejected on 5 March 2009, a decision that was confirmed by the CNDA on 10 December 2010. The Applicant therefore lodged an appeal on points of law against this decision, on the basis of the judgment delivered by the Administrative Tribunal of Melun, which on 9 October 2008, had quashed the decision of the Prefect of Seine-et-Marne requiring her to leave French territory and determining Sri Lanka as her country of destination.
Decision & reasoning:
The Council of State held that even if the judgment of the Administrative Court did not bind the CNDA with the absolute authority of res judicata, it nonetheless constituted an element indicating that the Council of State should re-examine all the facts submitted for its determination.
The Council of State found that the CNDA had committed an error of law in holding that the Applicant’s application for re-examination was inadmissible, on the grounds that the application relied on the administrative tribunal’s judgment as a new element, and in stating that the facts considered by the administrative tribunal were identical to those which had already been submitted to it for determination.
Outcome:
The CNDA’s decision N° 09005906 of 10 December 2010 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) |