A Pakistani national applied for international protection in Germany. The Federal Office for Migration and Asylum (BAMF) found that the applicant had a visa issued by Italy, and therefore sent a take charge request to Italy. The BAMF then dismissed the application and decided to transfer the applicant to Italy under the Dublin III Regulation and issued an entry and residence ban.

The applicant appealed the decision and claimed that paragraph 60 (5) and (7) of the Residence Act, concerning prohibition of deportation, was applicable in his case, and that the transfer should therefore be annulled. He claimed that if transferred to Italy, he would be at risk of inhuman or degrading treatment within the meaning of Article 4 of the EU Charter and Article 3 of the ECHR due to systemic deficiencies in the asylum procedure and reception conditions in Italy.

The Administrative Court in Düsseldorf stated that, particularly under the new Italian Government, there was sufficient evidence to suggest that reception conditions in Italy have deteriorated significantly and are fraught with systemic deficiencies.

The court noted that irrespective of that and in addition, it was not clear at the time of the decision that the transfer to Italy could be carried out within the six-month transfer period that begins from the issuing of the judgment. By letters dated 5 and 7 December 2022, the Italian Ministry of the Interior asked the Dublin units of the Member States to temporarily suspend transfers to Italy (with the exception of family reunifications with unaccompanied minors) from 6 December 2022, referring to a lack of reception capacity. The court also noted that the passing of time of three months since this announcement already spoke against the fact that rescheduling of the transfer could be completed within the next six months and that the applicant could be transferred. In view of the above, the court decided to repeal the decision in its entirety, thus annulling the transfer.