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1. Overview

The EUAA Case Law Database is a publicly available platform that provides timely and accurate information on the latest jurisprudence on asylum and serves as a repository of judicial decisions related to the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) at the national and European levels. 


The judgments and decisions included in the database are issued by: 

  • National courts (mainly, but not exclusively, decisions from upper courts); 
  • Quasi-judicial organs with competence in examining appeals against administrative asylum decisions; 
  • The Court of Justice of the European Union (the 'CJEU'); 
  • The European Court of Human Rights (the 'ECtHR'); 
  • Quasi-judicial bodies of the United Nations and the Human Rights Committee (CCPR). 


The EUAA Case Law Database does not include jurisprudence from third countries or jurisprudence that does not relate directly to international protection. The database is not exhaustive and does not aim to replace existing court or case law databases. References to official sources are included for each registered case, linking each case registration to the original judgment. 


The legal basis for the EUAA Case Law Database is EU Regulation 2021/2303, Article 6 which specifies that the EUAA has the mandate to gather and analyse information on national law and legal developments in the field of asylum, including case law, and information on relevant case law of the CJEU and of the ECtHR. The agency has the mandate to create public databases to store this information. 


The EUAA Case Law Database is the jurisprudential counterpart to the Information and Documentation System  (IDS) (a restricted EUAA database) and to statistical data collection under the Early warning and Preparedness System  (EPS).


All cases in the EUAA Case Law Database can be consulted through: 

  • Latest updates for the latest registrations to the database; this page displays only cases in which the judgment/decision was pronounced in the last 6 months. 
  • Digest - cases are arranged chronologically, by country/jurisdiction or by topic; in this page users can select a country or a topic to display only cases decided in a selected country or on a selected topic. 
  • Search Database - cases can be filtered by title, specific year or period, country of origin, country/court of decision, type of document, input provider, case number, ECLI, text in the abstract, keyword, legislative provision, and source. 

2. Target audience

The EUAA Case Law Database is a public platform for anyone interested in asylum case law. The specific target audience includes: 
  • National authorities with competences in administrative decisions related to asylum; 
  • Members of national and international courts and tribunals; 
  • International organisations; 
  • NGOs; 
  • Asylum experts and members of the academia, including students and researchers.

3. Methodology

3.1. Sources of information
The EUAA regularly researches the databases listed in the Overview of Judicial Institutions and the Overview of Civil Society Databases. Relevant judgments and decisions, which are already publicly available in these databases, are then registered in the EUAA Case Law Database. Additional information is received directly from national administrations, the EUAA Courts and Tribunals Network, UNHCR and academia.
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3.2. Selection of cases included in the database

The judgments and decisions included in the database are issued by: 

  • National courts of EU Member States, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland (mainly, but not exclusively, decisions from upper courts); 
  • Quasi-judicial organs with competence in examining appeals against administrative asylum decisions (as above, from EU Member States, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland); 
  • The Court of Justice of the European Union (the 'CJEU'); 
  • The European Court of Human Rights (the 'ECtHR'); 
  • Quasi-judicial bodies of the United Nations and the Human Rights Committee (CCPR). 

The EUAA Case Law Database does not include jurisprudence from third countries.​

Several aspects relating to the relevance of the case are taken into consideration when including a case into the EUAA Case Law Database. Such aspects may include but are not limited to: 
  • Preliminary rulings and orders of the CJEU (including referrals to the CJEU for a preliminary ruling); 
  • Landmark or key cases of the ECtHR, UN bodies or national courts, identified as such by the courts/bodies themselves or by other stakeholders (international organisations, academia, civil society organisations); 
  • Constitutional court or supreme court cases that review national legislation on international protection; 
  • Confirmation of a previous assessment, examination of a new national policy or practice on asylum, and interpretation or clarification of concepts, procedures or legislation related to international protection; 
  • New assessments based on country of origin information; 
  • Important changes that affect the implementation of CEAS (e.g. COVID-19 pandemic, Temporary Protection Directive); and 
  • Novelties in the examination (e.g. considerations about climate change). 
Cases to be included in the database are prioritised by the most recent judgment/decision and those pronounced by higher courts. 

3.3. Procedure to register cases
Any user can register an asylum judgment/decision in the database using the standard online form available on the page Submit New Case. Registrations are reviewed by the EUAA and published upon approval.

For detailed rules for registration of judgments and decisions in the EUAA Case Law Database, please see the document entitled 'Rules for registration of judgments and decisions'. The document includes sample abstracts for judgments and decisions from the CJEU, the ECtHR and national courts.​

Submissions may also be done in Word format using the document 'Template for submission of judgments and decisions in Word forma​t​'.

4. Structure and functionalities of the EUAA Case Law Database​

The EUAA Case Law Database is composed of several sub-pages, as follows: 

  • Home page includes all the relevant information concerning the EUAA Case Law Database at a glance (main pages, latest updates, publications and subscription button to receive the EUAA Quarterly Overview of Asylum Case Law, and resources by judicial institutions and civil society organisations). 
  • The About page provides background information, the scope of content and the methodology used to publish information. 
  • The Latest updates page presents the ten latest cases which were registered and published in the database. The page limits the display of cases to those pronounced in the last 6 months. 
  • The Digest page allows users to consult cases chronologically, by country/jurisdiction or by asylum topic. 
  • The Relevant sources page displays the sources used to gather information on jurisprudence related to asylum, for example court websites, specialised databases, civil society websites and specific publications.  
  • Under Publications, EUAA reports analysing case law on specific topics are presented, in addition to the EUAA Quarterly Overview of Asylum Case Law. 
  • Search database provides an engine to search judgments/decisions in the EUAA Case Law Database through various filters. 
  • Submit new case is where users can register a judgment/decision for inclusion in the database by completing a standard form. All cases are reviewed by the EUAA prior to publication in the database.

5. Publications based on the information gathered in the EUAA Case Law Database​

Every 3 months, the EUAA publishes the Quarterly Overview of Asylum Case Law, which summarises judgments and decisions related to international protection pronounced by national courts, the CJEU and the ECtHR. Please subscribe to receive the quarterly by email.

Every year, the editions of this publication are numbered in the following way: 

  • Issue 1/YEAR is published on 15 March and covers the period December to February; 
  • Issue 2/YEAR is published on 15 June and covers the period March to May; 
  • Issue 3/YEAR is published on 15 September and covers the period June to August; 
  • ​Issue 4/YEAR is published on 15 December and covers the period September to November.

The EUAA also publishes analytical reports which focus on case law on specific aspects of international protection. For a list of thematic reports on asylum case law, please see the Publications page.

In addition, case law is generally cited in EUAA reports analysing developments in asylum. For a list of such reports, please see here.

6. Contact information

The EUAA regularly organises presentations of the EUAA Case Law Database and thematic asylum case law to: 

  • Researchers, officers and members of courts and tribunals of EU+ countries; 
  • Researchers and students at universities, civil society organisations and other stakeholders with an interest in international protection; and 
  • Attendees at events and conferences organised by the EUAA or by an external stakeholder. 


For any additional information, please contact the EUAA at caselawdb@euaa.europa.eu  

 
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