Brussels, 09/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - In order to determine whether a person may benefit from subsidiary protection (for people who cannot claim refugee status), a member state is entitled to make the submission of an asylum application a pre-requisite, according to a judgment returned by the Court of Justice of the EU on Thursday 8 May.
The Court was asked to examine (Case C-604/12) the case of an individual of Pakistani nationality who, having been refused the renewal of a residence permit in Ireland, directly brought a claim under the subsidiary protection regime, on the grounds of Directive 2004/83/EC, justifying this by fears of suffering not persecution, but serious attacks in the country of origin. The Irish government refused to examine this application, as the individual had not first made an application for asylum. Under Irish law, only once a request for asylum has been rejected can an individual claim subsidiary protection.
Can examining eligibility for subsidiary protection be subordinate to the prior rejection of asylum claim? The Court replied that it can, as subsidiary protection is indeed additional to the protection offered to refugees. However, it laid down a number of conditions. Firstly, an individual has to be able to make an asylum claim and a request for subsidiary protection at the same time and secondly, they must have the guarantee that the latter claim will be dealt with within a reasonable period of time. It is now a matter for the Court of Appeal to verify whether these conditions are met under Irish law. (JK)