The Council of State clarified that the wording of Article 1(2) of kya 10302/29.5.2020 which does not leave room for an individualised assessment by the administrative authority and establishes an automatic rejection of the issuance of a travel document to a recognised refugee in case of conviction for certain offences, is in breach of its enabling provision Article 25 (2) of Law 4636/2019. The reading of such provision demands that the authority issues an individualised decision on the request for travel document after having conducted an assessment of the personal circumstances of the refugee, the specific facts and in view of them, the seriousness of the offense committed or of the criminal conviction, the time elapsed since the conviction and any other element for an individual assessment.

The Council of State ruled that the choice of the legislature to assign to an administrative body, the Asylum Service, the competence to decide which specific facts constitute an imperative reason of national security or public order that prevents the granting of the requested travel document is in accordance with the provisions of the recast Qualification Directive 2011/95/EU and with the relevant jurisprudence of the CJEU.  

Consequently, the refusal to grant a travel document was annulled by the Hellenic Council of State.