Case summaries

R (on the application of AH) (by this litigation friend, Francesco Jeff) v Secretary for the Home Department IJR, 2015
Country of applicant: Sudan

This is an application for judicial review of a decision made by the defendant local authority assessing the claimant to be an adult. The court reviewed important evidence such as the initial age assessment, together with statements from claimant’s supporting witnesses and the errors of the Italian authorities’ recordkeeping and concluded that the appellant was in fact a minor.

Date of decision: 10-06-2015
France - Council of State, 5 June 2015, n° 376783
Country of applicant: Sri Lanka

The general director of The French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFRA) appealed at the Council of State against the decision of the National Court of Asylum Law which granted M.A refugee status following the non-consideration by the court of the documents provided by the OFPRA in a foreign language (English).

The Council of State cancelled the court decision noting that it is incumbent on the Court to ask for a translation when  necessary.  

Date of decision: 05-06-2015
UK - MSM (Somalia) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, 2015 UKUT 00413 (IAC)
Country of applicant: Somalia

There is a real risk that by virtue of his predicted employment in the media sector the Appellant will be persecuted for political opinion and/or that a breach of his rights under Articles 2 and 3 ECHR will occur.

The Appellant is not to be denied refugee status on the ground that it would be open to him to seek to engage in employment other than in the journalistic or media sector.

Date of decision: 05-06-2015
France - Council of State, Interior Minister (Home Secretary) against M.A, 5 June 2015

The right to be heard prior to the adoption of a return decision, implies that the administrative authority places the foreign national in a position to present, in a useful and effective manner, his point of view on the illegality of his residency and the motives which will be likely to justify the authorities abstaining from taking a return decision.

It does not, however, imply that the administration has the obligation to put the interested person in a position to present his observations in a manner specific to the decision obliging him to leave French territory or on the decision of placing him in detention pending the execution of the expulsion measure as long as he has been heard on the illegality of his residence or the prospect of expulsion

Date of decision: 05-06-2015
CJEU - C‑579/13, P, S v Commissie Sociale Zekerheid Breda, College van Burgemeester en Wethouders van de gemeente Amstelveen
Country of applicant: New Zealand, United States

The Long- Term Residence Directive (Council Directive 2003/109/EC) does not preclude the imposition of an obligation to pass a civic integration examination, as long as this does not obstruct the objectives pursued by the Directive.

Date of decision: 04-06-2015
ECtHR - J.K. and Others v. Sweden, Application no. 59166/12
Country of applicant: Iraq

The proposed deportation of the applicants to Iraq would not violate Article 3 ECHR, either based on the general situation of violence in Iraq, or on the basis of past serious violence and threats that occurred in 2008.

Date of decision: 04-06-2015
Ireland - A.D V. Refugee Appeals Tribunal (Constituted of Paul Christopher, Tribunal Member) and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. [2010 No 1231 J.R] Judgment by Faherty J.
Country of applicant: Iran

This judicial review case quashed a Refugee Appeals Tribunal decision on the basis that the Tribunal member incorrectly made credibility findings regarding the applicant’s claim without a fully reasoned consideration of the country of origin information and a flawed reliance on inconsistencies in an Iranian Court document. 

Date of decision: 03-06-2015
Germany - Administrative Court of Cologne, 02 June 2015, case no. 16 K 2829/14.A
Country of applicant: Iran

When enforcing the Dublin III Regulation, the deporting country must verify whether the asylum procedure in the intermediary country sufficiently guarantees that the applicant will not be subject to a treatment which violates Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The deportation order was illegitimate due to inadequate conditions for the reception of asylum seekers and recognised refugees in Greece and the serious risk of inhuman or degrading treatment for asylum seekers and recognised refugees in Greece.

 

Date of decision: 02-06-2015
ECtHR - K.M. v. Switzerland, Application no. 6009/10, 2 June 2015
Country of applicant: Albania

The European Court of Human Rights held that the removal of an Albanian national from Switzerland to Albania would not violate his right to family life.

Date of decision: 02-06-2015
Czech Republic - S.A.CH, A.A.CH. and A.A.CH. v. Police of the Czech Republic, Regional Directorate of Ústí nad Labem, 42A 12/2015-78
Country of applicant: Iraq

The Czech Regional Court dealt with an application concerning the unlawfulness of a decision taken under § 129 (1) of the Aliens Act. After engaging in textual and teleological analysis of the said national provision, the Court concluded that because the Member State failed to establish objective criteria for assessing the risk of absconding, the rule laid down in Article 28 of the Dublin III Regulation is not applicable in the Czech Republic.  

Date of decision: 01-06-2015