Case C-440/25, Erbil: Request for a preliminary ruling from the Rechtbank Den Haag, zittingsplaats Zwolle (Netherlands) lodged on 4 July 2025 – PM and Others v Minister van Asiel en Migratie
Date: 2025-07-04
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: action brought before an administrative court, asylum seeker, competence of the institution, foreign national, international protection, judicial review, minister, persecution, return migration, right of asylum








C_202504748EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/4748


8.9.2025






Request for a preliminary ruling from the Rechtbank Den Haag, zittingsplaats Zwolle (Netherlands) lodged on 4 July 2025 – PM and Others v Minister van Asiel en Migratie


(Case C-440/25, Erbil
                (1)
)

(C/2025/4748)
Language of the case: Dutch

Referring court

Rechtbank den Haag zittingsplaats Zwolle

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicants: PM, QN, RM, SM, TM, UM, VM, WM

Defendant: Minister van Asiel en Migratie

Questions referred







1.


Can the court derive from Article 46(3) of Directive 2013/32/EU, (2) whether or not read in conjunction with Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, or from any other provision or principle of EU law, the power to make its own ruling on the credibility of an asylum account, superseding the ruling made by the Minister?










2.


Can the court derive from any of the abovementioned provisions the power to make a substantive and final ruling on the application for international protection on the basis of those parts of the asylum account which the Minister deems credible and, if the answer to question 1 is in the affirmative, those parts of the asylum account which the court also deems credible? In that regard, may the court substitute its own ruling on the plausibility of the fear of persecution or the real risk of serious harm for that of the Minister, especially if, against the background of publicly accessible country information, the court considers itself sufficiently informed to make such a ruling?










3.


Can national case-law constrain the powers referred to in questions 1 and 2, for example on the basis of procedural autonomy, to the effect that those powers are still vested exclusively in the Minister?










4.


May the court take into account information which was put forward on appeal, but which was not yet available at the administrative stage, in the ruling on the question whether it has enough information to make a substantive ruling? Is it relevant in that regard whether the parties have been able to express their views fully on the facts in writing or at the hearing?










5.


Should ‘well-founded fear’ as referred to in Article 2(d) of Directive 2011/95/EU (3) be understood as meaning that there is a reasonable likelihood that the asylum seeker will be persecuted upon return? Should that reasonable likelihood be determined on the basis of the criterion of a ‘rational and reasonable person’, whereby the decisive factor is whether, from the perspective of a rational and reasonable person in the position of the asylum seeker, a return to the country of origin appears unreasonable after weighing up all the known circumstances? If not, what criteria should be applied?






(1)  The name of the present case is a fictitious name. It does not correspond to the real name of any party to the proceedings.

(2)  Directive 2013/32/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection (recast) (OJ 2013 L 180, p. 60).

(3)  Directive 2011/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection, for a uniform status for refugees or for persons eligible for subsidiary protection, and for the content of the protection granted (recast) (OJ 2011 L 337, p. 9).


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/4748/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)