CJEU Case C-704/17/ Opinion

Introduction

1. By this request for a preliminary ruling the Nejvyšší správní soud (Supreme Administrative Court, Czech Republic) asks the Court for guidance on the interpretation of the provisions of Directive 2013/33/EU which provide guarantees for applicants for international protection placed in administrative detention pursuant to a decision of the competent national authorities. The referring court seeks to ascertain whether that directive, read in conjunction with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, in particular the rights to liberty and security and to an effective remedy enshrined therein, precludes national rules which provide that proceedings challenging a detention decision must be discontinued if the person concerned is released.
2. The question raised by the referring court requires, inter alia, this Court to examine the fundamental right to an effective remedy together with the general principles of EU law of equivalence and effectiveness in the context of national procedural autonomy.

Conclusion

In the light of the foregoing considerations I propose that the Court should answer the question referred by the Nejvyšší správní soud (Supreme Administrative Court, Czech Republic) as follows:

Article 9 of Directive 2013/33/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 laying down standards for the reception of applicants for international protection, read in conjunction with Articles 6 and 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, should be interpreted as precluding a national rule such as that at issue in the main proceedings insofar as that rule requires national courts automatically to discontinue judicial proceedings brought by an applicant for international protection to challenge a detention decision made against him if the person concerned is released from detention by a subsequent administrative order before the delivery of the court’s decision.