The applicant (national of Ivory Coast) applied for asylum on 22 January 2018 and stated that he was born on 20 April 2001, without submitting any documents to prove the date of birth. The Aliens Police, Identification and Human Trafficking Department concluded that the applicant was not a minor, the IND had the same conclusion during the registration interview and the State Secretary changed the year of birth to 1996 based on an age survey. On 7 May 2018 the State Secretary rejected an application to grant a temporary asylum residence permit. The applicant appealed the decision and on 7 June 2018 the court declared the appeal well-founded as the age assessment had not been carried out in accordance with the applicable policy and annulled the decision. The State Secretary appealed the decision.

The AVIM report did not show that both officials have seen the applicant independently and reached a conclusion independently of each other. They would have to independently determine the person's majority or minority on the basis of external characteristics and statements, see the person separately and each draw their own conclusion. A unanimous judgment is necessary to conclude to obvious majority or minority. 

The Council of State held that the lower court correctly considered that the two AVIM officials did not carry out the age assessment independently. It declared the appeal to be unfounded.