The applicant, a Russian national, applied for international protection in France on several grounds, including the principle of family unity, as his wife was granted refugee status by the OFPRA. His wife was granted refugee status on account of her membership to a particular social group of women whose attitude as wives or women subjected to paternal authority is regarded by society as transgressive of norms and customs, because she filed a complaint against her husband in France on account of the violence she had suffered.

On 4 December 2020, the OFPRA rejected the applicant’s request. He thus appealed against this decision on 8 January 2021, requesting the court to annul the contested decision and to grant him refugee status or subsidiary protection. In his appeal, the applicant also invoked the principle of the best interests of the child, which he argued should reinforce his right to benefit from the principle of family unity.

The court recalled that the 1951 Geneva Convention provides that, in order to ensure the full protection of refugees, their spouses or long-term partners of the same nationality should also be recognised as refugees and noted that the marital link between the applicant and his wife was indeed established. However, it highlighted that the applicant’s wife was granted refugee status because she reported the applicant for domestic violence, following which he got a suspended sentence of 4 months in prison, which put her at risk of persecution by the applicant’s family upon return. Therefore, the court concluded that the applicant could not be granted refugee protection on the basis of the principle of family unity as it would be contrary to its objective to ensure the full protection of his wife. Finally, the court added that the circumstances of the family were such that the applicant could not use the principle of the best interests of the child as a ground for his request.