A Syrian woman asked to be reunited with her adult son living in the Netherlands. The IND decided not to grant her request for family reunification with her son, as it considered that the two did not have a family life worthy of protection, and referred to the case law of the ECtHR, noting that Article 8 protects the family life between adult family members if there are more than normal emotional ties between them. The IND underlined, that this entails that there should be elements proving emotional or financial dependence between the two.

The Council of State so far has always ruled that the IND did not have to further consider any interests, if it found a lack of more than normal emotional ties.

With this judgment, the Council changed its approach and found that it was not enough to merely observe the absence of more than normal emotional ties. The IND should also take into account the other facts and circumstances in the case, and weigh the different interests in its assessment, before taking a decision.