Case C-604/12: Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber) of 8 May 2014 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Supreme Court — Ireland) — H. N. v Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Ireland, Attorney General (Directive 2004/83/EC — Minimum standards for granting refugee status or subsidiary protection status — Directive 2005/85/EC — Minimum standards on procedures in Member States for granting or withdrawing refugee status — National procedural rule under which an application for subsidiary protection may be considered only after an application for refugee status has been refused — Lawfulness — Procedural autonomy of the Member States — Principle of effectiveness — Right to good administration — Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union — Article 41 — Impartiality and expeditiousness of the procedure)
Date: 2014-05-08
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: administrative autonomy, administrative formalities, refugee








C_2014202EN.01000601.xml










30.6.2014   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 202/6





Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber) of 8 May 2014 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Supreme Court — Ireland) — H. N. v Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Ireland, Attorney General
(Case C-604/12) (1)

((Directive 2004/83/EC - Minimum standards for granting refugee status or subsidiary protection status - Directive 2005/85/EC - Minimum standards on procedures in Member States for granting or withdrawing refugee status - National procedural rule under which an application for subsidiary protection may be considered only after an application for refugee status has been refused - Lawfulness - Procedural autonomy of the Member States - Principle of effectiveness - Right to good administration - Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union - Article 41 - Impartiality and expeditiousness of the procedure))
2014/C 202/07
Language of the case: English

Referring court

Supreme Court

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicant: H. N.

Defendants: Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Ireland, Attorney General

Re:

Request for a preliminary ruling — Supreme Court — Interpretation 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 (OJ 2004 L 304, p. 12) — Application for subsidiary protection status made by a person who had not previously made an application for refugee status

Operative part of the judgment

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 refuges or as persons who otherwise need international protection and the content of the protection granted, the principle of effectiveness and the right to good administration do not preclude a national procedural rule, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, under which an application for subsidiary protection may be considered only after an application for refugee status has been refused, provided that, first, it is possible to submit the application for refugee status and the application for subsidiary protection at the same time and, second, the national procedural rule does not give rise to a situation in which the application for subsidiary protection is considered only after an unreasonable length of time, which is a matter to be determined by the referring court.


(1)  OJ C 86, 23.3.2013.