The applicant, a national of Pakistan, has applied for the renewal of his residence permit for humanitarian protection. The applicant was granted humanitarian protection in 2016 when he was an unaccompanied minor. The request for renewal was rejected and the applicant appealed against it.

The Court of Firenze took note that during the proceedings a new Decree no. 130/2020 entered into force, which contains provisions applicable to the applicant’s case. It held that the new Decree establishes a special protection and covers situations when the third country national would be at risk of treatment contrary to Article 3 ECHR if returned to his/her country of origin and to cases where “there are reasonable grounds for believing that removal from the national territory entails a violation of the right to respect for private and family life (Article 8 of the ECHR), by providing for account to be taken of the nature and effectiveness of the family ties of the person concerned, of his or her actual social ties’.

The court considered that the applicant is eligible for special protection in accordance with the new provision and held that the applicant arrived in Italy at the age of 16, he followed language training and he has a place of employment, under an open-ended part-time contract. The Court of Firenze concluded that the applicant is well integrated in Italy and an expulsion would be in breach of his right to family and private life.