CJEU Case C-564/18 / Opinion

LH v Bevándorlási és Menekültügyi Hivatal
Policy area
Borders and Visa
Deciding body type
Court of Justice of the European Union
Deciding body
Advocate General
Type
Opinion
Decision date
05/12/2019
ECLI (European case law identifier)
ECLI:EU:C:2019:1056
  • CJEU Case C-564/18 / Opinion

    Key facts of the case:

    Preliminary reference — Common policy on asylum and subsidiary protection — Common procedures for granting international protection — Directive 2013/32/EU — Article 33 — Grounds for inadmissibility — Exhaustive nature — Article 46(3) — Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union — Right to an effective remedy — Time limit of 8 days for the court or tribunal to decide.

    Outcome of the case:

    In the light of the considerations above, I suggest that the Court reply to the Fővárosi Közigazgatási és Munkaügyi Bíróság (Budapest Administrative and Labour Court, Hungary) as follows:

    1. Article 33 of Directive 2013/32/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection is to be interpreted as precluding legislation of a Member State pursuant to which an application is inadmissible when the applicant has arrived in that Member State via a country where he is not exposed to persecution or a risk of serious harm, or in which a sufficient degree of protection is guaranteed.
    2. Article 46(3) of Directive 2013/32, read in the light of Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, is to be interpreted as meaning that whether the time limit for the review laid down by the national legislation is adequate in the case pending before the national court is a matter for the national court to assess, having regard to its obligation to carry out a full and ex nunc examination, including, where applicable, an examination of the international protection needs pursuant to Directive 2011/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection, for a uniform status for refugees or for persons eligible for subsidiary protection, and for the content of the protection granted, while guaranteeing the applicant’s rights as defined, in particular, in Directive 2013/32. If the national court considers that those rights cannot be guaranteed, in the light of the specific circumstances of the case or the overall conditions under which that court has to carry out its tasks, such as a particularly high number of applications being lodged simultaneously, that court must disapply the applicable time limit as necessary and complete the examination as swiftly as possible after that time limit has expired.
  • Paragraphs referring to EU Charter

    18) In those circumstances, the Fővárosi Közigazgatási és Munkaügyi Bíróság (Budapest Administrative and Labour Court) suspended the proceedings and referred the following questions to the Court:

    ‘(1) May the provisions on inadmissible applications in Article 33 of [Directive 2013/32] be interpreted as not precluding a Member State’s legislation pursuant to which an application is inadmissible in the context of the asylum procedure when the applicant has arrived in that Member State, Hungary, via a country where he is not exposed to persecution or a risk of serious harm, or in which a sufficient degree of protection is guaranteed?

    (2) May Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights [of the European Union] and Article 31 of [Directive 2013/32] — having regard also to the provisions of Articles 6 and 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights — be interpreted as meaning that a Member State’s legislation complies with those provisions when it lays down a mandatory time limit of eight days for the administrative-law proceedings before a court in respect of applications declared inadmissible in asylum procedures?’

    ...

    66) By the second question, the referring court asks in substance whether Article 46(3) of Directive 2013/32, read in the light of Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the Charter’), ( 25 ) precludes legislation laying down a mandatory time limit of 8 days for a court or tribunal to complete its review of an administrative decision declaring an application for international protection inadmissible.

    ...

    88) In the light of those considerations, my second interim conclusion is that Article 46(3) of Directive 2013/32, read in the light of Article 47 of the Charter, is to be interpreted as meaning that whether the time limit for the review laid down by the national legislation is adequate in the case pending before the national court is a matter for the national court to assess, having regard to its obligation to conduct a full and ex nunc examination, including, where applicable, an examination of the international protection needs pursuant to Directive 2011/95, while guaranteeing the applicant’s rights as defined, in particular, in Directive 2013/32. If the national court considers that those rights cannot be guaranteed, in the light of the specific circumstances of the case or the overall conditions under which that court has to carry out its tasks, such as a particularly high number of applications being lodged simultaneously, that court must disapply the applicable time limit as necessary and complete the examination as swiftly as possible after that time limit has expired.

    ...

    89) In the light of the considerations above, I suggest that the Court reply to the Fővárosi Közigazgatási és Munkaügyi Bíróság (Budapest Administrative and Labour Court, Hungary) as follows:

    1. Article 33 of Directive 2013/32/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection is to be interpreted as precluding legislation of a Member State pursuant to which an application is inadmissible when the applicant has arrived in that Member State via a country where he is not exposed to persecution or a risk of serious harm, or in which a sufficient degree of protection is guaranteed.
    2. Article 46(3) of Directive 2013/32, read in the light of Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, is to be interpreted as meaning that whether the time limit for the review laid down by the national legislation is adequate in the case pending before the national court is a matter for the national court to assess, having regard to its obligation to carry out a full and ex nunc examination, including, where applicable, an examination of the international protection needs pursuant to Directive 2011/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection, for a uniform status for refugees or for persons eligible for subsidiary protection, and for the content of the protection granted, while guaranteeing the applicant’s rights as defined, in particular, in Directive 2013/32. If the national court considers that those rights cannot be guaranteed, in the light of the specific circumstances of the case or the overall conditions under which that court has to carry out its tasks, such as a particularly high number of applications being lodged simultaneously, that court must disapply the applicable time limit as necessary and complete the examination as swiftly as possible after that time limit has expired.