Syrian nationals who were granted refugee status in Greece applied for international protection in Germany and they argued that they cannot return to Greece because they would face inhuman or degrading treatment within the meaning of Article 4 of the EU Charter.

In Germany, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) granted them subsidiary protection and rejected their applications for refugee status.

By order of 7 September 2022 (BVerwG 1 C 26.21), the Federal Administrative Court requested the CJEU to interpret several provisions of EU law and the case was suspended in Germany.

The CJEU ruled on 18 June 2024 in QY (C-753/22) that Member States are not required to automatically recognise refugee status granted in another Member State where the competent authority cannot reject as inadmissible the asylum request of an applicant to whom another Member State granted protection, because the applicant would be exposed there to a serious risk of inhuman or degrading treatment, it must carry out a new individual, full and up-to-date examination of the case. However, in doing so, the competent authority must take full account of the decision of the other Member State to grant that applicant international protection and the evidence on which that decision is based.

Following this judgment, the Federal Administrative Court in Germany reopened the proceedings and held that if a third-country national was granted refugee status in another Member State but cannot return there due to the risk of inhuman or degrading treatment, the administrative courts in an asylum procedure conducted in Germany must fully consider the decision of the other Member State and the evidence on which this decision is based, if this has not already been done in the proceedings before BAMF and if it is necessary to obtain further information during the court proceedings, for example from the authorities of the other Member State, the parties involved and in particular BAMF, must cooperate in this process.