Article 4 - Prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
Key facts of the case:
A Ukrainian citizen (and his son) asked for international protection in Portugal under the terms of Law 27/2008, of 30 June, as amended and republished by Law 26/2014 of 5 May, which establishes the conditions and procedures for granting asylum or subsidiary protection and the statutes of asylum seeker, refugee and subsidiary protection (transposing Directives 2011/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December, 2013/32/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June, 2013/33/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June, and implementing Regulation (EU) 603/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June for the effective implementation of Regulation (EU) 604 /2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June). This request was denied by the Portuguese Immigration and Borders Service since, according to the applicable legislation, Hungary was the State responsible for examining the application (the Ukrainian citizen and his son had entered in Portugal with a visa granted by Hungary). The applicant appealed against the decision by the Court of First Instance (Tribunal Administrativo e Fiscal do Porto), which maintained the decision of the Portuguese Immigration and Borders Service and ordered the transfer of the Ukrainian citizen and of his son to Hungary.
Outcome of the case:
The Court did not give reason to the applicant and maintained the decision of the Lower Court, which means that it maintained the decision that the country responsible for examining the international protection request was Hungary while Portugal was only responsible for the transfer of the Ukrainian citizen (and of his son) to Hungary.
In the event of the impossibility to transfer an applicant to the Member State initially designated as responsible for the examination of the request of international protection, on the grounds that there are systemic failures in the asylum procedure and in the reception conditions which involve the risk of inhuman or degrading treatment in the sense expressed in Article 4 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, the Member State shall continue to examine the criteria set out in Chapter III [of the Regulation (EU) 604 /2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June] in order to decide whether any of those criteria allows another Member State to be responsible for that examination.
Caso seja impossível transferir um requerente para o Estado-Membro inicialmente designado responsável por existirem motivos válidos para crer que há falhas sistémicas no procedimento de asilo e nas condições de acolhimento dos requerentes nesse Estado-Membro, que impliquem o risco de tratamento desumano ou degradante na aceção do artigo 4.º da Carta dos Direitos Fundamentais da União Europeia, o Estado-Membro que procede à determinação do Estado-Membro responsável prossegue a análise dos critérios estabelecidos no Capítulo III a fim de decidir se algum desses critérios permite que outro Estado-Membro seja designado responsável.
