The applicant is a Cameroonian national who arrived in Madrid via Madrid-Barajas Airport on 31 August 2017 and was registered by the Spanish National Police as an "asylum-seeking minor", without an interview as she was considered a minor. She provided documentation showing her date of birth to be 10 May 2001, including a school card, a vaccination booklet and various school documents. 

She was admitted to a centre for the initial reception of minors in Hortaleza and a medical report written at the centre stated that she had the physical appearance of a 16-year-old and included a report of the violence she suffered at the hands of her father in Cameroon, of which she gave an account during the interview as part of her application for protection. 

The managers of the reception centre asked the applicant to contact her parents to obtain documentation to prove her age, which she refused because of the abuse experienced in the family environment, and then requested the Prosecution Services to initiate the age determination procedure. During the procedure, the need for international protection was not considered, the applicant was not informed of her rights, she was not provided with legal assistance, she was examined by a forensic physician without an interpreter, she was not interviewed and no medical information was requested. Her age was only assessed through a physical examination, including of her genitalia, without being informed of the need for this invasive examination.

On 8 November 2017, a decree was issued by the Prosecution Service finding the author to be an adult, without the possibility to appeal. The applicant was expelled from the reception centre and an administrative decision was adopted not to grant her protection. No attempt was made to notify her of the decision. She appealed the decision and only after her appeal was dismissed she gained access to the results of the medical tests she had undergone and identified some errors. She petitioned the Office of the Prosecutor for Minors to have the errors corrected and the request was denied. She was registered by the Office for Asylum and Refuge as an adult asylum seeker. 

An appeal to the Provincial High Court of Madrid against the termination of the protection the applicant had been receiving as a minor was still under review at the time of the submission of the Committee's view. The applicant pointed out that by the time the appeal is resolved she will have reached the age of 18. The applicant claims that she was a victim of violations of articles 3, 8, 12, 16, 18 (2), 20, 22, 27 and 39 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The Committee considered that the best interest of the child was not a primary consideration during the process, as the State failed to respect the principle of presumption of minority and to appoint a guardian or representative. The Committee also noted that the applicant was not provided the opportunity to challenge the outcome of an age determination process and that the vaccination booklet and school documents which proved her date of birth were not considered. The Committee found that the age assessment was not carried out in a scientific, safe, child- and gender-sensitive and fair manner. In light of this consideration, the Committee found that the facts presented by the applicant amounted to violations of articles 3, 8, 12, 16, 20 (1), 22, 27, 29 and 39 of the Convention.