Netherlands: Council of State upholds an appeal against a Dublin transfer to Bulgaria

Date: 
Monday, November 20, 2017

On 20 November 2017, the Dutch Council of State ruled in case 201704656/1/V3 regarding the appeal brought by an Iranian national against the decision by the District Court of the Hague confirming that Bulgaria was the Member State responsible for examining the asylum application and concluding that the medical information submitted by the applicant did not provide sufficient grounds for establishing individual circumstances justifying the unviability of a Dublin transfer.

The Council of State relied upon the CJEU’s ruling in C-578/16 PPU C.K. and others and the AIDA Country Report on Bulgaria to conclude that the District Court of the Hague had failed to take the applicant’s mental health conditions into account. Initial medical reports indicated that the applicant had attempted suicide before and that further psychological care and investigation was needed to ascertain the status of her mental health. She was later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and in need of continued psychological treatment. Coupled with the information pointing to the absence of adequate psychological care in Bulgaria, the Council of State found that the applicant’s transfer to Bulgaria would subject her to a risk of inhuman or degrading treatment. Therefore, the Council of State quashed the Court of the Hague’s decision

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



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Keywords: 
Dublin Transfer
Reception conditions
Responsibility for examining application