EN Official Journal of the European Union C 46/4

Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 2 December 2014 (requests for a preliminary ruling from the Raad van State — Netherlands) — A (C-148/13), B (C-149/13), C (C-150/13) v Staatssecretaris van Veiligheid en Justitie

(Joined Cases C-148/13 to C-150/13) (1)

((References for a preliminary ruling - Area of freedom, security and justice - Directive 2004/83/EC - Minimum standards for granting refugee status or subsidiary protection status - Article 4 - Assessment of facts and circumstances - Methods of assessment - Acceptance of certain types of evidence - Extent of the competent national authority’s powers - Fear of persecution on grounds of sexual orientation - Differences between, on the one hand, the limitations that apply to the verification of statements and documentary or other evidence as regards the declared sexual orientation of an applicant for asylum and, on the other hand, those that apply to the verification of those elements as regards other grounds for persecution - Directive 2005/85/EC - Minimum standards in respect of procedures in Member States for granting and withdrawing refugee status - Article 13 - Requirements for a personal interview - Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union - Article 1 - Human dignity - Article 7 - Respect for private and family life))

(2015/C 046/05)

Language of the case: Dutch

Referring court

Raad van State

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicants: A (C-148/13), B (C-149/13), C (C-150/13)

Defendant: Staatssecretaris van Veiligheid en Justitie

Intervener: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

Operative part of the judgment

1) Article 4(3)(c) of Council Directive 2004/83/EC of 29 April 2004 on minimum standards for the qualification and status of third country nationals or stateless persons as refugees or as persons who otherwise need international protection and the content of the protection granted and Article 13(3)(a) of Council Directive 2005/85/EC of 1 December 2005, on minimum standards on procedures in Member States for granting and withdrawing refugee status, must be interpreted as precluding, in the context of the assessment by the competent national authorities, acting under the supervision of the courts, of the facts and circumstances concerning the declared sexual orientation of an applicant for asylum, whose application is based on a fear of persecution on grounds of that sexual orientation, the statements of that applicant and the documentary and other evidence submitted in support of his application being subject to an assessment by those authorities, founded on questions based only on stereotyped notions concerning homosexuals.

2) Article 4 of Directive 2004/83, read in the light of Article 7 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, must be interpreted as precluding, in the context of that assessment, the competent national authorities from carrying out detailed questioning as to the sexual practices of an applicant for asylum.

3) Article 4 of Directive 2004/83, read in the light of Article 1 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, must be interpreted as precluding, in the context of that assessment, the acceptance by those authorities of evidence such as the performance by the applicant for asylum concerned of homosexual acts, his submission to ‘tests’ with a view to establishing his homosexuality or, yet, the production by him of films of such acts.

4) Article 4(3) of Directive 2004/83 and Article 13(3)(a) of Directive 2005/85 must be interpreted as precluding, in the context of that assessment, the competent national authorities from finding that the statements of the applicant for asylum lack credibility merely because the applicant did not rely on his declared sexual orientation on the first occasion he was given to set out the ground for persecution.

(1) OJ C 171, 15.6.2013.