The applicant, national of Belarus, applied for international protection in Estonia and it was found that on 14 August 2020, the person lodged an application for international protection in the Republic of Lithuania, which the authorities rejected by decision of 18 February 2021 and issued an expulsion decision to him. On 6 January 2022, the Police and Border Guard Board submitted a take back request to the Lithuanian authorities, request which remained with no reply from Lithuania and the Estonian authorities considered, based on Article 25 (2) of the Dublin III regulation that the request was accepted and the Lithuanian Migration Board has to take back the person.

By decision of 8 February 2022, the Police and Border Guard Board dismissed the application and stated that Lithuania is the state responsible to process the application. The applicant contested the decision and alleged that applicants in Lithuania are ill-treated, detained and not provided with effective remedies against negative decisions. The appeal was rejected by the Administrative Court of Tallinn, and the applicant further appealed before the Circuit Court.

The Circuit Court rejected the appeal and stated that Lithuania is a secure EU Member State that fulfils its international obligations with regard to international protection. The Circuit Court further mentioned that the shortcomings in the accommodation of applicants for international protection due to a mass influx of applicants for international protection from Belarus, does not lead to the conclusion that the Dublin III regulation is not applicable. In addition, the fact that the Lithuanian authorities rejected the application, and the applicant could contest the decision before a court show that there are no deficiencies in the system, and it noted that the applicant’s departure was motivated by economic reasons and not by the conditions in Lithuania.

In the further appeal, the Circuit Court stated that the findings of the administrative court were correct, that there are no indications of shortcomings in the accommodation of applicants for international protection, or in the procedure. Moreover, the Circuit Court considered that the situation of the applicant is not comparable to those who arrived in the Republic of Lithuania in a massive scale in 2021, the applicant does not belong to that group and consequently the Court ruled that there is no reason to consider that Lithuania infringes the rights of the individuals in the context of the procedure for international protection and in the context of an eventual expulsion.