Supreme Court, ordinanza 26921/2017 (Italy)

The case concerned a gay man from Nigeria. The first and second instance judges dismissed the asylum seeker’s appeal for contradictions in his account and lack of credibility.

Following its case law on SOGI claims (see Database), the Supreme Court recalled that judges cannot dismiss an asylum request only for credibility reasons. This is especially true if they did not share the burden of proof with the applicant, playing an active role in acquiring all the necessary information for confirming the claimant’s account (decision available from www.italgiure.giustizia.it).