MINISTERS’ DEPUTIES

Decisions

CM/Del/Dec(2021)1419/H46-17

2 December 2021

1419th meeting, 30 November – 2 December 2021 (DH)

 

H46-17 Ilias and Ahmed v. Hungary (Application No. 47287/15)

Supervision of the execution of the European Court’s judgments

 

Reference document

CM/Notes/1419/H46-17

 

Decisions

The Deputies

1.         recalled that this case concerns a violation of the procedural obligation under Article 3 to assess the risks of ill-treatment before removing the asylum-seeking applicants to Serbia by relying on a general presumption of “safe third country”, which was not based on a thorough assessment of the risk of lack of effective access to asylum proceedings in Serbia, including the risk of refoulement, and by inducing them to enter Serbia illegally instead of negotiating an orderly return;

2.         noted with deep regret that no steps have been taken towards conducting the necessary reassessment of the legislative presumption of “safe third country” in respect of Serbia and firmly reiterated their invitation to carry out such reassessment without further delay and in line with the requirements of the Court’s case-law, and to present the grounds and the outcome thereof;

3.         firmly reiterated their request to the authorities to demonstrate, preferably with case-law examples, that the risks of denial of access to an effective asylum procedure in Serbia and the risk of arbitrary removal from that country are now thoroughly examined by the asylum authority and the national courts in similar cases in line with the European Court’s case law and so with reference to any authoritative findings of the UNHCR;

4.         noted with grave concern that, despite the concerns expressed in their previous decision, the practice of forced removals without orderly procedure has continued; strongly reiterated their call on the authorities to fully comply with the requirements flowing from the Court’s judgment and to ensure that forced returns are framed by orderly procedures and safeguards notably concerning every person’s right to seek asylum as established by international law;

5.         firmly reiterated their request of providing concrete information on the announced reform of the asylum system apparently in progress in connection with the CJEU’s judgment of 14 May 2020 and on the measures envisaged with a view to preventing the recurrence of violations similar to that found by the Court;

6.         decided to resume examination of this case at their 1443rd meeting (September 2022) (DH) at the latest.