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CJEU Case C-304/14 / Judgment

Secretary of State for the Home Department v. CS
Policy area
Justice, freedom and security
Deciding body type
Court of Justice of the European Union
Deciding body
Court (Grand Chamber)
Type
Decision
Decision date
13/09/2016
ECLI (European case law identifier)
ECLI:EU:C:2016:674

Karta tad-Drittijiet Fundamentali tal-Unjoni Ewropea

Title II: Freedoms

Article 7 - Respect for private and family life

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  • CJEU Case C-304/14 / Judgment

    Key facts of the case:

    Reference for a preliminary ruling — Citizenship of the Union — Article 20 TFEU — Third-country national having a young dependent child who is a Union citizen — Right to reside in the Member State of which the child is a national — Criminal convictions of the child’s parent — Decision to expel the parent resulting in the indirect expulsion of the child concerned

    Outcom of the case:

    the Court (Grand Chamber) hereby rules:

    Article 20 TFEU must be interpreted as precluding legislation of a Member State which requires a third-country national who has been convicted of a criminal offence to be expelled from the territory of that Member State to a third country notwithstanding the fact that that national is the primary carer of a young child who is a national of that Member State, in which he has been residing since birth without having exercised his right of freedom of movement, when the expulsion of the person concerned would require the child to leave the territory of the European Union, thereby depriving him of the genuine enjoyment of the substance of his rights as a Union citizen. However, in exceptional circumstances a Member State may adopt an expulsion measure provided that it is founded on the personal conduct of that third-country national, which must constitute a genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat adversely affecting one of the fundamental interests of the society of that Member State, and that it is based on consideration of the various interests involved, matters which are for the national court to determine.

  • Paragraphs referring to EU Charter
    1. It should be pointed out that Article 20 TFEU does not affect the possibility of Member States relying on an exception linked, in particular, to upholding the requirements of public policy and safeguarding public security. However, since CS’s situation falls within the scope of EU law, assessment of her situation must take account of the right to respect for private and family life, as laid down in Article 7 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the Charter’), an article which must be read in conjunction with the obligation to take into consideration the child’s best interests, recognised in Article 24(2) of the Charter (see, to this effect, judgment of 23 December 2009, Detiček, C‑403/09 PPU, EU:C:2009:810, paragraphs 53 and 54).
    1. In carrying out the balancing exercise required of it, the referring court has also to take account of the fundamental rights whose observance the Court ensures, in particular the right to respect for private and family life, as laid down in Article 7 of the Charter (see, to this effect, judgment of 23 November 2010, Tsakouridis, C‑145/09, EU:C:2010:708, paragraph 52), and to ensure that the principle of proportionality is observed.