During its meeting on 6-7 December the Council confirmed the political agreement on the Dublin Regulation and was informed about the state-of-play of the outstanding legislative proposals concerning the Common European Asylum System:
The European Commission will be presenting its Smart Borders package to the upcoming Justice and Home Affairs Council of 7-8 March. The package includes three proposals for regulations:
The applicant, Zhakhongir Abidov, is a Kyrgyzstan national who was born in 1981 and lives in Novosibirsk (Russia). An ethnic Uzbek, he has regularly travelled to Russia for work purposes since 2001. In June 2010 he was arrested in Novosibirsk as he was wanted by the Uzbek authorities on suspicion of setting up an extremist organisation whose aim is to overthrow the constitutional order in Uzbekistan; his extradition was also granted shortly thereafter. However, he has since been released in March 2011 when the Russian courts quashed the decision to extradite him.
The paper "Distinction, Discretion, Discrimination: the new frontiers of gender-related claims to asylum" was presented by Ms. Alice Edwards, Senior Legal Coordinator and Chief, Protection Policy and Legal Advice Section, Division of International Protection, UNHCR during the Gender, Migration and Human Rights Conference, organized by the European University Institute in Florence, Italy Uniteon 18-19 June 2012.
(Area of freedom, security and justice - Directive 2008/115/EC - Common standards and procedures for returning illegally staying third-country nationals - Applicability to asylum seekers - Possibility of keeping a third-country national in detention after an application for asylum has been made)
The United Nations Human Rights Council adopted during its 22nd session its first resolution dealing with redress and rehabilitation of victims of torture. The resolution reminds states of their international obligations with respect to the prohibition of torture. These include the provision of redress to victims, among others in the form of rehabilitation.
Statewatch has published an analysis of the completion of the second phase of the Common European Asylum System by Professor Steven Peers. The analysis concludes that the second-phase legislation brings about "very limited improvements as regards reception conditions, modest improvements as regards procedures and qualification, no real improvement as regards the Dublin rules and a significant reduction in standards as regards Eurodac". It also underlines that not only harmonised legislation is needed to achieve real common standards, but also a more coherent and vigorous enforcement.
(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Area of freedom, security and justice - Directive 2008/115/EC - Common standards and procedures for returning illegally staying third-country nationals - National legislation providing for a fine which may be replaced by an order for expulsion or home detention)
Referred Questions In the light of the principles of sincere cooperation and the effectiveness of directives,
Request for a preliminary ruling - Common European Asylum System - Application by a national of a third country seeking refugee status - Directive 2005/85/EC - Article 23 - Possibility of prioritising the processing of asylum applications - National procedure applying in a prioritised procedure for the examination of applications by persons belonging to a certain category defined on the basis of nationality or country of origin - Right to an effective judicial remedy - Article 39 of Directive 2005/85 - Concept of "court or tribunal" within the meaning of that article
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC) recently updated its 2011 Report on Serbia (Serbia as a Safe Third Country Revisited) based on a field mission there on 2-4 April 2012. Overall HHC's concerns expressed in the 2011 report remain valid. The findings of the report focus on a) limited access to protection and lack of procedural safeguards; b) risk of chain refoulement; c) danger of destitution.
