Case summaries
In the opinion of the Court, generally accepted principles of administrative procedure such as the right of a participant to be heard, the right to comment on the basis for a decision, the right to present evidence in support of one’s claims in a procedure and the right to be informed of the grounds for an administrative act (Resolution 77(31) of the Committee of Minister of the Council of Europe of 28 September 1977) must not be disregarded in the case in question.
In the opinion of the appellate court, one of the conditions required under Section 19(1)(i) of the Asylum Act for ruling that there is no need to adjudicate was not fulfilled. Despite the existence of a final decision dismissing the application as manifestly unfounded, it was not possible to agree with the opinion of the administrative authorities, as upheld by the Regional Court, that the facts had not changed substantially.
A nexus between an act of persecution and the persecution ground is only necessary to meet the definition of a refugee, but not, however, to determine the question of whether persecution (an act of), and therefore a reason against rejecting the application for international protection, was raised during the procedure at the airport.
The fact that one of the grounds for requesting asylum was to legalise residency in the Czech Republic was not sufficient in itself to allow the application to be deemed unfounded.
The Ministry of Interior must address all factual statements made, even if not formally named as grounds for the asylum application.
In order for an expulsion order to be immediately enforced it must be clear that the applicant is not at risk of persecution or similar treatment in the country of origin.
The Immigration Service refused an application for asylum deeming the application unfounded as the applicant had mainly based her claim for asylum on economic grounds. The applicant was taken into the System of Victim Assistance during the appeal stage on suspicion the applicant was a victim of trafficking. The Administrative Court held that in line with the Immigration Service’s decision, the application was deemed manifestly unfounded, but due to a suspicion the applicant was a victim of trafficking, returned the case to the Immigration Service for re-examination.
The exclusion ground “serious non-political crime” does not automatically apply to a supporter of the PKK. In contrast, an examination of the individual responsibility has to be carried out in each case.
A potential violation of Art. 3 of the Convention can be found when a person risks to be extradited to a country where practice of ill-treatment of detainees are reported by reliable sources, notwithstanding possible assurances by the involved public prosecutors of that country.
Given the irreversible and particular serious nature of the harm which might occur if risks relevant under art. 3 of the Convention materialise, an effective remedy to avoid such a harm within the meaning of art. 13 of the Convention requires both an independent and rigorous scrutiny of a claim, and a remedy with automatic suspensive effect.
If an applicant raises circumstances that could present a potential breach of Art 3 ECHR it is impossible to reject the application as manifestly unfounded. The case must be considered on its merits and the deciding authority needs to have accurate COI.
A time limit of seven days to submit an appeal against the decision on a manifestly unfounded asylum claim is too short to ensure an effective remedy.