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Belgium - Council for Alien Law Litigation, 17 April 2020, n°235 277
Country of applicant: Guinea

The fact that an asylum seeker has already been persecuted in the past or has been subject to direct threats of persecution, was considered as a well-founded argument to believe that the applicant would face the risk to be persecuted under Article 1, Section A §2 of the 1951 Refugee Convention.  

Date of decision: 17-04-2020
WA (Pakistan) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department, 2019
Country of applicant: Pakistan
This case dealt with the issue of the whether the guidance of MN and others Pakistan CG [2012] was still accurate in terms of asylum protection due to failing to ask the question of why an individual would act in a discreet way in their country of origin. This question draws the distinction between concealment of faith due to fear of persecution or simply due to social norms or personal preference.
 
WA sought to challenge the correctness of the guidance in MN and others Pakistan CG [2012] in that it failed to properly reflect the judgement of HJ (Iran) test of asking why an individual would act in a particular way to avoid persecutory harm in their country of origin. The unanimous judgement allowed the appeal and remitted the case back for a hearing. 
 
Date of decision: 06-03-2019
Sweden - Migration Court of Appeal, 19 June 2018, UM16509 - 17
Country of applicant: Afghanistan

The applicant appealed the Migration Court’s decision to dismiss his application for asylum on grounds of the availability of an internal protection alternative in the applicants home country of Afghanistan.

The Migration Court of Appeal granted the appeal as it was held that the question of internal protection can only be assessed after the court has made an individual assessment of the original grounds for protection invoked by the applicant.
 

Date of decision: 19-06-2018
Portugal: Adnan v. Immigration and Borders Service, National Director, 15 March 2018 No. 2163/17.7BELSB
Country of applicant: Syria

The Court found that due to the inexistence of the connection requirement between the applicant and the State of Ecuador, the latter cannot be considered a “safe third country” in light of Article 2 n.º1 point r) item i) of the Law 27/2008. Nonetheless, the international protection request should be rejected on the basis that Egypt is considered to be the first country of asylum, excluding the possibility of granting international protection under Article 19º-A n. º1 points c) and d) of the Law 26/14.

Date of decision: 15-03-2018
Switzerland – Federal Administrative Court, 5th September 2017, E-305/2017
Country of applicant: Morocco
According to the principle of non-Refoulement, Switzerland is obliged to apply Art. 17 Dublin-III-Regulation, examining an asylum application, if otherwise a provision of public international law could be infringed. 
 
That is the case when there is substantial evidence indicating that an asylum seeker will be tortured again in his home country, but the originally responsible state denied asylum and decided to deport the person. It needs to be examined, whether and to what extent the authorities included the evidence regarding torture in their decision-making.
 
Date of decision: 05-09-2017
Poland- The Supreme Administrative Court, 22 June 2017, II OSK 23366/16
Country of applicant: Russia (Chechnya)

Following the appeal of the Children’s Rights Ombudsman, the Supreme Administrative Court set aside the order of the Regional Administrative Court, in relation to a challenge to the decision of the Polish Refugee Board, and set aside the aforementioned decision to refuse tolerated stay, dismissing the appeal in all other respects.

The court justified its decision with reference to the procedural errors of the Polish Refugee Board, which included failing to gather evidence in an appropriate manner and inappropriately establishing the facts relating to the Applicant’s children. 

Date of decision: 22-06-2017
ECtHR – J.K. v. and Others v. Sweden, Application No. 59166/12, 23 August 2016
Country of applicant: Iraq

The return of the applicants to Iraq violates Article 3 ECHR as there is a real risk of ill-treatment based on their personal circumstances as a targeted group and the Iraqi authorities’ diminished ability to protect them.

Date of decision: 23-08-2016
ECtHR – R.V. v France, Application No. 78514/14, 7 July 2016
Country of applicant: Russia

The applicant appealed against a deportation order on account of the high risk that he faced of being subject to treatment contrary to Article 3 ECHR in the case of return to Russia.

Date of decision: 07-07-2016
ECtHR - M. D. and M. A. v Belgium, Application No. 58689/12, 19 January 2016
Country of applicant: Russia

The Court found a violation of Article 3 in relation to a subsequent application for asylum, which had been rejected on the basis that it contained no new elements indicating that the Applicants ran a real risk of being subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment on deportation to Russia. Because new information had in fact been provided, the national authorities were under an obligation to thoroughly review the information in order to assure themselves that the Applicants’ rights under Article 3 would be safeguarded.

Date of decision: 19-01-2016