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31/12/2021
FI: The Supreme Administrative Court ruled on the assessment of conversion to Christianity and granted refugee status to an Iraqi national

ECLI
ECLI:FI:KHO:021:195
Input Provided By
EUAA IDS
Other Source/Information
Type
Judgment
Original Documents
Relevant Legislative Provisions
European Convention on Human Rights; Revised Qualification Directive (Directive 2011/95/EU on standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as BIP for a uniform status for refugees or for persons eligible for subsidiary protection- recast)/or QD 2004/83/EC
Reference
Finland, Supreme Administrative Court [Korkein hallinto-oikeus], Applicant v Finnish Immigration Service, ECLI:FI:KHO:021:195, 31 December 2021. 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=2205
Case history
Other information
Abstract

The applicant, Iraqi national, had been rejected international protection and submitted a subsequent application, based on his conversion to Christianity as new ground for protection. The applicant has been heard both before the FIS and the Administrative Court, which both considered his allegations on conversion not credible and also that he would not be at risk of persecution when returned to his country of origin due to his religious beliefs.


The applicant contested the negative outcome of his subsequent application, and the Supreme Administrative Court assessed the conviction of the applicant as a ground for asylum in a situation where he had been involved in religious activities in Finland for a long time, and the risk of persecution in case of return to his home country.


The Supreme Administrative Court consulted and referred to the CJEU case law, namely Joined Cases Y and Z (C-71/11 and C-99/11), judgement of 5 September 2012 and Bahtiyar Fathi (Iranian) v Chairman of the Bulgarian State Agency for Refugees (BG, Predsedatel na Darzhavna agentsia za bezhantsite), C-56/17, 4 October 2018.


The Supreme Administrative Court noted on the CJEU case law that applications for international protection based on fear of persecution on religious grounds must take into account not only the applicant's status and personal circumstances but also his or her religious beliefs and circumstances, how he understands and lives his faith, his relationship with the doctrines, rituals or regulations of the religion to which he declares that he belongs or from which he intends to distance himself, and the interaction between religious and identity, ethnic or gender factors.


According to the Supreme Administrative Court, the applicant's own account therefore plays a key role in assessing the existence of a religious belief. The Court had to assess the applicant's motivation to turn to Christianity, what effect the turn has had on the person's life. In addition to this, the overall assessment must give due weight to other evidence, such as documentary evidence and witness statements, which may support the applicant’s own statement of his conviction. However, the Supreme Court mentioned that it is not possible to assess the authenticity of the applicant’s conviction solely on the basis of such other evidence.


The Supreme Administrative Court stated that the importance of witnesses statements at the hearing must be assessed on a case-by-case basis and this assessment may focus on, among other things, how closely and for how long the witness has known the applicant, the extent to which the witness has observed his or her religion or conversion process and its various stages, whether the witness and the applicant discussed religious issues and whether the witness and the applicant are sharing a common language and understanding.


The Court noted that the applicant had been involved in the activities of the parish for about four years, prior to the hearing before the administrative court and church affiliation is one basic element of the Christian faith. However, since open activities are organised also for non-Christians, the participation in such activities does not prove by itself the existence of conviction. For such activities to demonstrate conviction, the credibility assessment must include, inter alia, the content of the activity, the applicant's own initiative, the long-term participation and other factors.


The Supreme Administrative Court held that although A's conversion to Christianity may have been formal at first and may have been intended to promote asylum, however, since a conversion to Christianity and Christian beliefs are not permanent and unchanging, but a gradual and evolving process, it was possible that Christianity had later developed into a personal belief, despite a purposeful conversion. The applicant had been actively practicing Christianity for several years and the circumstances of the early stages of the conversion should not have been given much weight in the assessment, but more of the current state of A's convictions should have been primarily assessed by lower court and FIS.


The Supreme Administrative Court considered that A's account of his personal convictions and their significance to him to be sufficiently personal and consistent as well as supported by his long-term, self-initiated, and active participation in church activities, facts corroborated with the testimonies of witnesses heard before the court. 


The Supreme Administrative Court considered that it has been established with sufficient certainty that A had developed a Christian conviction which required him to practice and profess Christianity openly and that A. could not be required to live contrary to his beliefs or to conceal his beliefs in order to avoid persecution. For these reasons, the Supreme Administrative Court overturned lower court and FIS decision and referred the case back to FIS for the applicant to be granted asylum status.


Country of Decision
Finland
Court Name
FI: Supreme Administrative Court [Korkein hallinto-oikeus]
Case Number
Date of Decision
31/12/2021
Country of Origin
Iraq
Keywords
Assessment of Application
Asylum Procedures/Special Procedures
Country of Origin Information
Iraq
Religion/ Religious Groups
RETURN