Case summaries
Pursuant to Section 60 paragraph 5 of the Residence Act, refugees recognised abroad cannot be deported to the state in which they are recognised if the living conditions expected there contradict Article 3 of the ECHR. This presupposes that the situation in the country of destination reaches the minimum severity required for Article 3 ECHR, but an "extreme danger" within the meaning of the case-law regarding Section 60 paragraph 7 sentence 5 Residence Act is not a prerequisite.
A Syrian citizen who has been recognised as a refugee in Bulgaria cannot be deported to Bulgaria because of the degrading living conditions awaiting him there.
The official date of an Islamic marriage contracted in Syria needs to be determined with reference to Syrian law. An official notice by the Dutch Foreign Affairs Ministry’s states that “in the opinion of the Syrian authorities, the date set by the Sharia Court will be the official date of marriage.”
If according to the marriage certificate issued by the Sharia Court the marriage predates a sponsor’s entry into the Netherlands, it is sufficiently established that a valid marriage existed before this entry, also when registration before the Sharia Court took place after the entry.
Court ruled upon the correct test to use when considering returns to Palestine.
The Court considered that the decision-maker should have had taken into consideration the applicant’s alleged vulnerable situation, and as a result ordered the case’s remittal to the Central Administrative Court of Lisbon so evidence could be collected on this.
The Federal Administrative Court has to clarify whether the petition for action directed solely at the obligation to decide on the asylum application is admissible. The question if it is also possible to directly oblige the defendant to grant international protection or to establish prohibitions on deportation by means of an action is not the subject of the decision. As a result, the court comes to the conclusion that there was a delay by the respondent of providing the decision on the asylum application without sufficient reason and that the plaintiff has a need for legal protection for its action for failure to act.
The judgment deals with the admissibility of the execution of an expulsion order of an Eritrean who illegally left the country. Despite the assumption that the entry into the national service in the country of origin constitutes forced labour within the meaning of Art. 4 para. 2 ECHR, enforcement is permissible since there was no flagrant violation of Art. 4 para. 2 ECHR.
The Administrative Chamber of the Spanish Supreme Court established that Spain is bound by two Council Decisions of May and September 2015 establishing an EU Emergency Relocation Mechanism aimed at distributing a number of refugees that have arrived to Italy and Greece.
The Constitutional Council decided on the criminal exemptions in favour of persons involved in the crime of assisting aliens to irregularly stay in a country. The first sentence of article L. 622-4 of the code of entry and stay of foreigners and the right to asylum (CESEDA) is unconstitutional as it must include not only the assistance to irregular stay in a country but also the assistance to the movement of aliens being in an irregular situation. The Council also specifies, in relation to the third paragraph of the above-mentioned article, that it is to be applied to any act assisting aliens to irregularly stay when motivated by humanitarian purposes. The Council hence enshrines the constitutional value of the fraternity principle.
Following on from a Rule 39 measure from the European Court of Human Rights preventing the transfer of the applicant to Bulgaria under the Dublin Regulation, the Tribunal ordered the police prefect to register the applicant's claim for asylum in France.