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30/10/2020
UN: CRC ruled that Switzerland violated Articles 3 and 12 of the CRC in the absence of a direct hearing of children pending a Dublin transfer

ECLI
Input Provided By
EUAA Information and Analysis Sector (IAS)
Type
Individual Complaints/Views
Original Documents
Relevant Legislative Provisions
Dublin Regulation III (Regulation (EU) No 604/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an application for IP); UN International Covenants / UN Conventions
Reference
United Nations, Committee on the Rights of the Child [CRC], E.A. and U.A. (Azerbaijan) v Switzerland, CRC/C/85/D/56/2018, 30 October 2020. Link redirects to the English summary in the EUAA Case Law Database.
Permanent link to the case
https://caselaw.euaa.europa.eu/pages/viewcaselaw.aspx?CaseLawID=1383
Case history
Other information
Abstract

Accoding to the ELENA Weekly Legal update of 20 November 2020 :


"The author, her husband and their children, E.A and U.A, fled from Azerbaijan to Switzerland. The first time, the family had to agree to return to Azerbaijan. However, after her husband’s arrest upon return, the author arranged to flee again to Switzerland via Italy, with E.A and U.A. While the Swiss authorities subsequently instituted a take back request to Italy under the Dublin III Regulation (Regulation 604/2013), the author unsuccessfully requested, under article 17 of Dublin III, that the Swiss authorities examine their asylum application, given that the transfer would be detrimental to the rights and best interests of the children in a vulnerable family. The author suffered panic and anxiety attacks during the removal operation and as a result the police abandoned the family at Zurich airport with no money and told them to make their own way back to their accommodation in Ticino. 
The author complained that the Swiss authorities violated their obligation to respect the rights set out in the CRC under, inter alia, articles 3 and 12.  
 
The Committee took note of the author’s allegation that the Swiss authorities violated article 12, guaranteeing the right of the child to be heard in any judicial or administrative proceedings affecting the child. It pointed out that this article imposes no age limit on the right of the child to express her or his views and stated that, in general, it discourages States parties from introducing age limits either in law or in practice that would restrict the child’s right to be heard in all matters affecting her or him. The Committee highlighted that determining the best interests of the children requires that their situation be assessed separately, notwithstanding the reasons for which their parents made their asylum application.  It adopted the view that the absence of a direct hearing of the children constituted a violation of article 12 CRC.
 
Moreover, the Committee noted the author’s argument that the Swiss authorities did not take into consideration the trauma experienced by the children, including twice fleeing their country of origin, once returning to their country of origin and attempting a second time at making them return under particularly traumatic conditions. It considered that the national  authorities, having failed to hear E.A and U.A, did not show due diligence in assessing the children’s best interests and thus violated article 3 CRC." 


Country of Decision
United Nations
Court Name
UN: Committee on the Rights of the Child [CRC]
Case Number
CRC/C/85/D/56/2018
Date of Decision
30/10/2020
Country of Origin
Azerbaijan
Keywords
Dublin procedure
Effective remedy
Medical condition
Minor / Best interests of the child
Return/Removal/Deportation
Vulnerable Group
Source
OHCHR
Other Source/Information
http://docstore.ohchr.org/SelfServices/FilesHandler.ashx?enc=6QkG1d%2fPPRiCAqhKb7yhslov9FOAeMKpBQmp0X2W983A8Aa2ILKeVfB37o8VmycE5JRsqXmRj8p%2bo7ldyh07Sy09SGowRfHdZqBI0bX7HIVH6NbMGBa4CmYLWHbf6TSucCyKZOYVKn5RkrU5JnSyjzhA3wn5xRTlh0Wrlp62U18%3d