The Court of Appeal in the UK has granted stays preventing the removal of three asylum seekers to Cyprus in accordance with the Dublin Regulation while it awaits a pronouncement of the Supreme Court that should clarify the criteria under which a Dublin transfer should be discarded. In a case from the Appeals Court concerning a Dublin transfer to Italy, the Supreme Court is expected to establish whether systemic deficiencies in the asylum system and reception conditions are required to stop Dublin removals, or whether an individual risk of violations of ECHRs rights would suffice.
A reference for a preliminary ruling concerning the Dublin Regulation was published this week by the CJEU. It was lodged on 28 March 2013 by the Rechtbank Den Haag (Netherlands) and the questions read as follows:
The case concerns the alleged ill-treatment and abduction of the applicant's son in Chechnya in May 2011. According to the applicant, his son was beaten and abducted by armed men in uniform while he was at work, and since then he has received no reliable news about him. Two days before, his son had been detained by police officers who had pressured him to confess to the preparation of a terrorist act. The applicant alleged violations of Article 3 (prohibition of torture and ill treatment), Article 5 (right to liberty and security) and Article 13 (right to an effective remedy).
The applicant is an Afghan national who had been left disabled by a rocket launch in Afghanistan in 2006. He arrived in the United Kingdom in 2010 and applied for asylum, but his application was unsuccessful. Before the European Court of Human Rights, he alleged that his removal to Afghanistan would breach Article 3 ECHR as it would expose him to a higher risk of violence owed to his disability. He would also face lack of support and general discrimination.
A joint informal body of members of the European Parliament and Council of Europe parliamentarians has welcomed the prospect of talks resuming on EU accession to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Last week the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe decided to pursue negotiations with the European Union with a view to finalising the legal instruments setting out the modalities of accession. The high-level political negotiations stalled in the Autumn of 2011 after the completion of most of the technical work on accession.
On 8 May, the European Commission released its 2012 report on the application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The report examines the action taken by the EU in 2012 to implement the Charter's rights in EU legislation and to ensure that this is in compliance with the Charter. It also reports on the impact of the Charter on the external action of the EU and on the most relevant cases of the Court of Justice concerning the Charter.
In a case involving three homosexual men seeking refugee status in the Netherlands who come from countries where homosexual acts are criminal offences (Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Senegal) the national court raised three questions concerning the assessment of applications for refugee status under the provisions of Chapter III of Council Directive 2004/83/EC (‘the Directive’). First, do third country nationals who are homosexual form a particular social group within the meaning of Article 10(1)(d) of the Directive?
EASO's newsletter for March 2013 contains a section on a new proposal aimed at linking EASO's different COI-related activities into one coherent structure entitled "EASO COI Network approach". The proposal comprises the creation of a Strategic COI Network composed of COI heads of units or experts from the Member States, associated countries, the EU Commission and UNHCR which would discuss issues at a strategic level, and the setting up of specific expert networks on specific countries, regions or themes to exchange information and harmonize COI practices.
The Schengen Information System allows competent authorities to issue and consult alerts on persons who may have been involved in serious crime or may not have the right to enter or stay in the EU. It will also contain information on missing persons or certain objects such as firearms or stolen vehicles. The data concerning persons include all the data necessary to confirm their identity including picture and fingerprints, as well as relevant information about the alert and the action to be taken.
From now on, asylum seekers awaiting a decision on their application in Greece might be detained for up to 18 months. The provisions governing the maximum length of time by which asylum seekers' detention can be extended have recently been changed.
