The Council of State ruled in a joint  judgment on two cases concerning the detention of Algerian nationals. In the first case (Case No 202306388/1/v3), the applicant was detained by the State Secretary for Justice and Security on 27 September 2023. This decision was overturned by the District Court of the Hague on 9 October 2023, and the detention measure was lifted. In the second case (Case No 202307965/1/V3), the applicant was detained on 15 December 2023, and by judgment of 21 December 2023, the District Court of the Hague dismissed the appeal of the applicant as unfounded. The State Secretary filed an appeal before  the Council of State against the decision taken in the first case, whilst the applicant filed an appeal to the Council of State against the decision taken in the second case.

In two previous judgments of 17 September 2021, and 4 May 2022, the Council of State ruled that there is no prospect of deportation to Algeria within a reasonable period of time. In the two appeals, the Council of State analysed whether the findings in the judgment of 4 May 2022 are still valid and applicable.

The State Secretary argued that since the judgment of 4 May 2022, circumstances have changed as a new Algerian consul has taken office, and an agreement has been reached with him for Algerian nationals to be presented to him on a monthly basis. Additionally, the State Secretary highlighted that on 26 September 2023, the Algerian authorities granted a laissez passer to an Algerian national, and he was subsequently deported to Algeria on October 2023.

At the request of the Council of State with the aim of examining the case, the State Secretary provided figures for the period 2023-March 2024, on Laissez Passer applications, presentations, nationality confirmations, Laissez Passer issuances and deportations.

The information provided showed that for the last 4 months of 2023, a cautious but consistent upward trend has been observed in the cooperation of the Algerian authorities in resuming presentations of alleged Algerian nationals. It was noted that cooperation with presentations and confirmations of nationality was undoubtedly relevant to accept the prospect of deportation within a reasonable period.

In its consideration of the first case no. 202306388/1/V3, the Council of State  took into account that, a deportation on the basis of a single commitment of the delivery of a Laissez Passer, was still an uncertain factor at the time of the closure of the investigation in that case. Taking into account these figures and in particular that only one Laissez passer was issued in October 2023, the Council of State  ruled that the District Court rightly considered that the developments referred to by the State Secretary are insufficient to assume that at the time of the conclusion of the investigation, there was again  a prospect of deportation to Algeria within a reasonable period of time  and stated that no ex officio review is necessary. The court also noted that in this case, the lower court was not provided with figures by the State Secretary on important background information, including the number of presentations by Algerian nationals. The court stated that such figures were necessary for an assessment of a possible change  towards a view of deportation within a reasonable period of time. The State Secretary appeal was rejected.

On the other hand, in the second case 202307965/1/V3, the Council of State ruled that the lower court was correct in its assessment that as of December 2023, there was against the prospect of deportation to Algeria within a reasonable period. The Council of State argued that in this case, the lower court was presented with the necessary background information to reach this conclusion, as the figures provided to the District Court of the Hague demonstrated an increase in the number of nationality confirmations, Laissez Passer issuances and deportations of Algerian foreign nationals to Algeria from October to December 2023. The Council of State rejected the applicant's appeal and ruled that the lower court rightly assessed that there no reason to assume that the applicant had no prospect of deportation within a reasonable period.

In a press statement about the cases, the Council of State stated based on the figures since December 2023, Algerian nationals who made use of all remedies, can be deported to Algeria within a reasonable period and can be detained for this purpose.