Case summaries

France - National Court of Asylum, 7 October 2014, M. B., No13003572
Country of applicant: Central African Republic

A case may be re-examined in substance by the CNDA, if the facts referred to by the Applicant took place after the last decision of the CNDA or if it is proven that the Applicant could not have been aware of them prior to the previous court decision.

A person who has been a member of an armed unit which has committed systematic violence, and who has not attempted to prevent it or be dissociated from the other members is personally guilty and therefore cannot be granted the refugee status.

Date of decision: 07-10-2014
Poland - Regional Administrative Court in Warsaw, 7 October 2014, no IV SA/Wa 1074/14

The right to court, which includes the principle of contradictoriness and its essential element – the possibility to get acquainted with the information in possession of the authority or the court  – is not a value overriding other values protected by the national legal order.

Such an understanding is reflected in EU law – Article 13 para 1 of the Returns Directive.

In the opinion of the Court it is not inconsistent with Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, bearing in mind Article 52 para. 1.

Disclosing concrete information gathered by a specialised agency, responsible for state security, enables identification of the source of information, so it can pose a threat to other persons or even exclude the possibility of obtaining any further relevant information.

In this situation, taking into account the need to protect state security there are limitations which impact upon the procedural rights of a person. However these are justifiable on account of public interest. 

Date of decision: 07-10-2014
France - Administrative Court of Lyon, 6 October 2014, M. M / Préfet du Rhône, No 1407555
Country of applicant: Kosovo

Hungary’s practice of not suspending its deportation procedures for second time asylum applicants amounts to a serious and unlawful interference with an applicant’s constitutionally guaranteed right to apply for refugee status.

Date of decision: 06-10-2014
Spain - Spanish Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo), Cassation and Procedural Breach Appeal, 23 September 2014 (Appeal Nº 1382/2013)
Country of applicant: Ghana

The Supreme Court held that an immigrant whose passport or equivalent identity document reveals their minority cannot be subjected to additional tests in order to determine his age unless a proportionality judgment about the document’s reliability has first been carried out. The Court also held that medical techniques to determine an age cannot be applied indiscriminately.

Date of decision: 23-09-2014
Belgium - Council for Alien Law Litigation, 18 September 2014, No. 129604
Country of applicant: Cameroon

The Aliens Litigation Court has cancelled a judgment by the Secretary of State for Asylum, Migration and for Social Integration, which refuses leave to remain to a Cameroon national with an order of expulsion to Cyprus, the first European State through which the applicant entered.

Date of decision: 18-09-2014
Germany – Federal Constitutional Court, 17 September 2014, 2 BvR 1795/14
Country of applicant: Ethiopia

The decision of the German Federal Constitutional Court allowed a Dublin transfer of a woman and her infant child to Italy stating that the applicants did not sufficiently substantiate that they were at risk of living on the streets when returned to Italy.

The competent authority has to provide suitable guarantees to ensure the well-being of the infant applicant when returned to Italy.

Date of decision: 17-09-2014
France - Administrative Tribunal of Nantes, decision of 16 September 2014, No 1407765
Country of applicant: Syria

A claim challenging the refusal to grant a visa -in order to claim asylum on French territory- qualifies as being urgent. The consular authority is not qualified to assess the asylum claim. 

Date of decision: 16-09-2014
ECtHR - Trabelsi v. Belgium, (Application no. 140/10), 4 September 2014
Country of applicant: Tunisia

The ECtHR has unanimously held that Belgium, in extraditing a Tunisian national to the US, where he was under prosecution on charges linked to Al-Qaeda, without any regard to the interim Rule 39 measure issued by the Court suspending the extradition, had violated both Article 3 and Article 34 (right to individual applications)of the ECHR.

Date of decision: 04-09-2014
ECtHR - M.V and M.T. v France, Application No. 17897/09
Country of applicant: Russia (Chechnya)

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has held that the proposed return of a Chechen couple to the Russian Federation would constitute inhumane treatment. The couples right to an effective remedy to complain of the real risk of inhumane treatment had, however, not been violated.

Date of decision: 04-09-2014
Germany – Administrative Court Hannover, 08/15/2014, 6 A 9853/14
Country of applicant: Iraq

In light of a deterioration of safety conditions in Iraq since June 10th 2014 members of the Yazidi religious group living in the province of Ninive (Mosul) are in danger of persecution solely on the basis of their religious beliefs, from which they can’t reasonably seek effective protection from the Iraqi state nor from any other organization, which could offer protection. Furthermore they can’t now, nor will they for the foreseeable future be able to evade persecution by seeking refuge in safe havens within country boarders.

Date of decision: 15-08-2014