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CJEU Case C-604/12 / Judgment

H.N. v Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and Others.
Policy area
Asylum and migration
Deciding body type
Court of Justice of the European Union
Deciding body
Court (Fourth Chamber)
Type
Decision
Decision date
08/05/2014
ECLI (European case law identifier)
ECLI:EU:C:2014:302

Carta dei diritti fondamentali dell’Unione europea

Title V: Citizens' rights

Article 41 - Right to good administration

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  • CJEU Case C-604/12 / Judgment
    Key facts of the case:
     
    Request for a preliminary ruling from the Supreme Court (Ireland).

    Directive 2004/83/EC — Minimum standards for granting refugee status or subsidiary protection status — Directive 2005/85/EC — Minimum standards on procedures in Member States for granting or withdrawing refugee status — National procedural rule under which an application for subsidiary protection may be considered only after an application for refugee status has been refused — Lawfulness — Procedural autonomy of the Member States — Principle of effectiveness — Right to good administration — Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union — Article 41 — Impartiality and expeditiousness of the procedure.
     
    Outcome of the case:
     

    On those grounds, the Court (Fourth Chamber) hereby rules:

    Council Directive 2004/83/EC of 29 April 2004 on minimum standards for the qualification and status of third country nationals or stateless persons as refuges or as persons who otherwise need international protection and the content of the protection granted, the principle of effectiveness and the right to good administration do not preclude a national procedural rule, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, under which an application for subsidiary protection may be considered only after an application for refugee status has been refused, provided that, first, it is possible to submit the application for refugee status and the application for subsidiary protection at the same time and, second, the national procedural rule does not give rise to a situation in which the application for subsidiary protection is considered only after an unreasonable length of time, which is a matter to be determined by the referring court.

     

  • Paragraphs referring to EU Charter

    1) This request for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of Council Directive 2004/83/EC of 29 April 2004 on minimum standards for the qualification and status of third country nationals or stateless persons as refuges or as persons who otherwise need international protection and the content of the protection granted (OJ 2004 L 304, p. 12; corrigendum OJ 2005 L 204, p. 24) and of Article 41 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the Charter’).

    ...

    24) In those circumstances, the Supreme Court decided to stay proceedings and to refer the following question to the Court for a preliminary ruling:

    ‘Does ... Directive 2004/83 …, interpreted in the light of the principle of good administration in the law of the European Union and, in particular, as provided by Article 41 of the Charter …, permit a Member State to provide in its law that an application for subsidiary protection status can be considered only if the applicant has applied for and been refused refugee status in accordance with national law?’

    ...

    49) As regards the right to good administration, enshrined in Article 41 of the Charter, that right reflects a general principle of EU law.