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13/03/2023
NL: The Court of the Hague seated in Roermond referred questions for preliminary ruling on interpretation of EU Charter and the Return Directive

ECLI
Input Provided By
EUAA Information and Analysis Sector (IAS)
Type
Referral for a preliminary ruling
Original Documents
Relevant Legislative Provisions
EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (EU Charter)
Reference
Netherlands, Court of The Hague [Rechtbank Den Haag], K, L,M,N v State Secretary for Justice and Security (Staatssecretaris van Justitie en Veiligheid), 13 March 2023. 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=3511
Case history

European Union, Court of Justice of the European Union [CJEU], K, L, M, N v State Secretary for Justice and Security (Staatssecretaris van Justitie en Veiligheid), C-156/23, ECLI:EU:C:2024:892, 17 October 2024. 

Other information
Abstract

Registered under C-156/23


The Court of the Hague seated in Roermond submitted the following questions for a preliminary ruling:


I Is Article 47 of the EU Charter, read in conjunction with Article 4 of the EU Charter, Article 19(2) of the Charter and Article 5 of the Return Directive to be interpreted as meaning that a judicial authority must establish ex officio that the principle of nonrefoulement has not been complied with on the basis of the information in the file brought to its attention and as supplemented or clarified in the adversarial proceedings brought before it? Does the scope of that obligation depend on whether the adversarial proceedings were initiated with an application for international protection, and is the scope of that obligation therefore different where a refoulement risk is assessed in the context of admission or in the context of return?


II Is Article 5 of the Return Directive, read in conjunction with Article 19(2) of the EU Charter to be interpreted as meaning that, where a return decision is issued in proceedings which have not been initiated with an application for international protection, the question whether or not the refoulement prohibition precludes return must be examined before the issue of a return decision and does an established refoulement risk then preclude the imposition of a return decision or is an established refoulement risk in that situation an obstacle to removal?


III Is a return decision revived if that return decision has been suspended because of new proceedings which have not been initiated with an application for international protection, or is Article 5 of the Return Directive, read in conjunction with Article 19(2) of the EU Charter, to be interpreted as meaning that, where the refoulement risk has not been assessed in the proceedings leading to the renewed finding of illegal residence, a current assessment of the refoulement risk should follow and a new return decision should be imposed? Is the answer to that question different if there is no suspended return decision but a return decision which has not been complied with by the third country national and the authorities for a prolonged period of time?


Country of Decision
Netherlands
Court Name
NL: Court of The Hague [Rechtbank Den Haag]
Case Number
Date of Decision
13/03/2023
Country of Origin
Armenia
Keywords
Non-refoulement
Return/Removal/Deportation
Appeal / Second instance determination
Other Source/Information
CURIA Database