Italy: Court of Cassation rule on error in application of Dublin Regulation III

The First Civil Section of the Italian Court of Cassation recently ruled on the cessation Dublin III responsibility when an applicant submits a second asylum request in another Member State after having left the territory of the EU for at least three months.

The case concerned an individual who applied for international protection in Germany in 2016. Following the rejection of his claim, he left the country for Serbia where he spent almost two years. In May 2018, he made an application for asylum in Italy, which was refused on the grounds that Germany responsible for the request under the Dublin Regulation III. 

On appeal, it was argued that Germany’s responsibility had already ceased as, in light of Article 19 (2) Dublin Regulation, when a person concerned had spent more than three months outside the territory of the Member State, the subsequent request should be considered as a new application. The Tribunal rejected the appeal, finding that Article 19(2) provided a discretionary power to refuse competence, which it did not take advantage of. The judgment was appealed before the Court of Cassation.

The Court of Cassation held that the Tribunal had erred in its interpretation and application of the law. It held that according to Article 19 (2), an asylum application submitted after having spent more than three months outside the Member States territory must be considered as a new one and, consequently, the responsibility of the first country has already ceased. The Court returned the decision to the Tribunal who will be responsible of assessing the applicant departure and its reasons.

Many thanks to Francesca Zalambani, legal assistant at ECRE, for assisting the EWLU team with this summary. Based on an unofficial translation by the EWLU team.

This item was reproduced with the permission of ECRE from the ELENA Weekly Legal Update. The purpose of these updates is to inform asylum lawyers and legal organizations supporting asylum seekers and refugees of recent developments in the field of asylum law. Please note that the information provided is taken from publicly available information on the internet. Every reasonable effort is made to make the content accurate and up to date at the time each item is published but no responsibility for its accuracy and correctness, or for any consequences of relying on it, is assumed by ECRE.