The case concerns emergency measures during the Covid-19 pandemic and specifically the single judge formation and the use of video-conference in CNDA.

By Ordinance No. 2020-305 of 25 March 2020, procedural rules applicable before the administrative courts were temporarily adapted to the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. These provisions were  supplemented by Ordinance No. 2020-558 of 13 May 2020, which provides that the procedure provided for in the second paragraph of article L. 731-2 of CESEDA is applicable to all appeals before the CNDA, namely that the president of the court or the presiding judge he appoints decides alone, in principle within five weeks. These provisions are applicable until the end of the state of health emergency, namely until 10 July 2020 (included).

The Council decided to suspend the application of these provisions after it observed the particular operational difficulties at the CNDA, the proportion of members that could be considered particularly vulnerable to Covid-19 and the limited duration of application of the contested provisions, the allegations that these provisions are not justified and proportionate, the general and systematic nature of the exemption adopted, not limited to hypotheses which can be justified by the characteristics of the cases, and the particular importance for asylum seekers of the guarantee that their appeal will be examined by a collegiate formation.