The case concerned an appeal submitted by an applicant against a decision to transfer him to Malta under the Dublin III Regulation. The applicant claimed a risk of violation of Article 3 ECHR and the CGRS assessed that there were no indications for such a risk, despite the applicant’s allegations of poor reception conditions and the AIDA reports.

The Council for Alien Law Litigation suspended the execution of the decision refusing residence permit and ordering a Dublin transfer to Malta because it found that the applicant would be at risk of systematic detention and removal upon arrival in Malta. The CALL took into account recent AIDA reports where there was information on various difficulties for applicants transferred to Malta under the Dublin procedure: detention, overcrowding and poor conditions in reception centers, no access to labor market due to detention and poor detention conditions and other difficulties. The CALL made a thorough analysis of the situation in Malta and reiterated the standards and principles applicable to the Dublin transfers, including relevant case law of the CJEU.

It concluded that there are concrete indications of that the CGRS failed to conduct a proper investigation of the situation in Malta and the potential risk for the applicant to be subject to treatment contrary to Article 3 ECHR. The CALL suspended the enforcement of the Dublin transfer.