H.N. v Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and Others.
Date: 2014-05-08
26. It should be recalled, first of all, that in its definition of ‘international protection’, Directive 2004/83 refers to two separate systems of protection, namely the system governing refugee status and that relating to subsidiary protection status.
27. It should be noted in that regard that, as is apparent from recitals 3, 16 and 17 in the preamble to Directive 2004/83, the Geneva Convention constitutes the cornerstone of the international legal regime for the protection of refugees and that the provisions of the directive were adopted to guide the competent authorities of the Member States in the application of that convention on the basis of common concepts and criteria (Joined Cases C‑199/12 to C‑201/12 X and Others EU:C:2013:720, paragraph 39 and the case-law cited).
28. Directive 2004/83 must for that reason be interpreted in the light of its general scheme and purpose, and in a manner consistent with the Geneva Convention and the other relevant treaties referred to in Article 78(1) TFEU (Case C‑364/11 Abed El Karem El Kott and Others EC:C:2012:826, paragraph 43 and the case-law cited).
31. Moreover, it is apparent from recitals 5, 6 and 24 in the preamble to Directive 2004/83 that the minimum requirements for granting subsidiary protection must serve to complement and add to the protection of refugees enshrined in the Geneva Convention through the identification of persons genuinely in need of international protection and through such persons being offered an appropriate status (Case C‑285/12 Diakite  EU:C:2014:39, paragraph 33).
39. However, Directive 2005/85 applies to applications for subsidiary protection only where a Member State establishes a single procedure under which an application is examined by reference to both forms of international protection, namely asylum and subsidiary protection (Case C‑277/11 M. EU:C:2012:744, paragraph 79).
41. Accordingly, in the absence of EU rules concerning the procedural requirements attaching to the examination of an application for subsidiary protection, the Member States remain competent, in accordance with the principle of procedural autonomy, to determine those requirements, while at the same time ensuring that fundamental rights are observed and that EU provisions on subsidiary protection are fully effective (see, to that effect, Case C‑439/08 VEBIC EU:C:2010:739, paragraph 64).
49. As regards the right to good administration, enshrined in Article 41 of the Charter, that right reflects a general principle of EU law.
50. Accordingly, where, in the main proceedings, a Member State implements EU law, the requirements pertaining to the right to good administration, including the right of any person to have his or her affairs handled impartially and within a reasonable period of time, are applicable in a procedure for granting subsidiary protection, such as the procedure in question in the main proceedings, which is conducted by the competent national authorities.
52. As regards, in particular, the requirement for impartiality, that requirement encompasses, inter alia, objective impartiality, in so far as there must be sufficient guarantees to exclude any legitimate doubt as to bias on the part of the national authorities concerned (see, by analogy, Case C‑439/11 P Ziegler v Commission EU:C:2013:513, paragraph 155).