Case summaries

An applicant who demonstrated his will to put an end to his situation of servitude in Mauritania was considered as having a behavior which infringes on the customs of this country. He must be considered as a member of a social group whose members are, due to common characteristics which define then in the eyes of the Mauritanian society, likely to face persecution against which authorities are not able to protect them.

Prior to the ECtHR’s decision in MSS v Greece and Belgium, the Austrian Asylum authorities generally only used the sovereignty clause in relation to “Dublin cases” concerning Greece and vulnerable persons. The Constitutional Court refused the appeal on the basis that the applicant did not fall within a vulnerable group and because the Asylum Court’s decision was taken prior to MSS v Greece and Belgium.

The Palestinian applicant’s claim was rejected by the authorities as he was not found to be credible. However, the court held that the security situation in the West Bank needed to be reexamined on the basis of the latest country of origin information to assess if the applicant would face a risk of torture or inhuman treatment upon return.

An applicant from Somalia was eligible for refugee status. The court found:

1. There was sufficient probability that the applicant’s life and freedom, in case of return to Somalia, were at risk due to his membership of a particular social group.
2. Clan membership constitutes a particular social group.
3. Protection against persecution is not provided by the State, by parties or by other organisations in Somalia.
4. There is no internal protection in Somalia.

The applicant, from Iran, had not been politically active in Iran but participated in demonstrations in Sweden and appeared with his photo on dissident websites and TV. The applicant was considered to have been engaged in low-level political activity. Thus, he was deemed not to be of interest to the Iranian authorities and was therefore not considered to be a refugee or in need of subsidiary protection on “sur place” grounds.

The case concerns the expulsion of a refugee on the grounds of national security, under an order that did not set out reasons and resulted in violations of Art. 8 and Article 1 of Protocol No. 7 of the ECHR.

An applicant from Guinea was recognised as a refugee. The court found that because of his homosexuality he faced a threat of persecution from family members. The State was unwilling or unable to provide protection.

The Supreme Court does not consider an assessment of the Applicant as an untrustworthy person to be justifiable where it is based only on the fact that he failed to mention all of the details of the case immediately in the admission interview, providing them gradually instead, as the Applicant‘s claims are logical, consistent, and in line with the situation in the country of origin. The argument of untrustworthiness can be used only in situations where there are additional factors indicating that the facts asserted by the Applicant are not true, and that has not been demonstrated in the case in question.

A former officer in Saddam Hussein’s Security Services was excluded from protection due to possible crimes against humanity. He was however granted a temporary residence permit as the decision could not be executed without violating the principle of non-refoulement.

Article 10 of Legislative Decree 25/2008 sets out guarantees for asylum seekers as regards procedural access according to which the asylum seeker should be informed not only of his rights and obligations during the procedure but also on the means and times available to him for his asylum application. In addition, section 4 provides for timely information to be given to the Applicant concerning the decision taken by the Territorial Commission. This should be provided in the first language indicated by the Applicant or in one of the four official languages.

This provision has to be respected for the procedure to be valid.