NL (Rechtbank Den Haag, AWB 16/12251) 2017

Rechtbank Den Haag, AWB 16/12251, 06-04-2017

[ELENA Weekly Legal Update,  21 April 2017]

NL: Secretary of State did not sufficiently motivate why the sexual orientation of the asylum seeker is not credible
On 6 April 2017, the Court of The Hague has given a ruling related to a sexual-orientation-based asylum application by a Nigerian national. It ruled that, when deciding on the judicial review of an asylum case, particularly concerning the credibility of the asylum claim, it cannot be inferred from Article 46(3) recast Asylum Procedures Directive how invasive the assessment by the court in question must be. The Court sees no reason to refer preliminary questions to the CJEU, thus rejecting the applicant’s request in that regard. Nevertheless, the Court ruled that the Secretary of State did not sufficiently motivate why he found the sexual orientation of the asylum seeker not credible.

For more information, please see the section on case A, B and C v Staatssecretaris van Veiligheid en Justitie in ECRE’s recent study “Preliminary Deference? The impact of judgments of the Court of Justice of the EU in cases X.Y.Z., A.B.C. and Cimade and Gisti on national law and the use of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights” of March 2017.

Based on an unofficial translation by the ELENA Weekly Legal Update.