JUDGMENT
OF
25. 7. 2018 — CASE C-585/16
ALHETO
(2) Is Article 12(1)(a) of Directive 2011/95, read in conjunction with Article 5 thereof, to be
interpreted as precluding provisions of national law such as Article 12(1)(4) of the ZUB, at issue
in the main proceedings, which, in the version currently in force, does not contain any express
clause on ipso facto protection for Palestinian refugees and does not lay down the condition that
the assistance must have ceased for some reason, and as meaning that Article 12(1)(a) of Directive
2011/95, being sufficiently precise and unconditional and therefore directly effective, is applicable
even if the person seeking international protection does not expressly rely on it, where the
application is of a kind that must be examined in accordance with the second sentence of
Article 1(D) of the Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees?
(3) Does it follow from Article 46(3) of Directive 2013/32, read in conjunction with Article 12(1)(a) of
Directive 2011/95, that, in an appeal before a court or tribunal against a decision refusing
international protection adopted in accordance with Article 10(2) of Directive 2013/32, it is
permissible, taking into account the facts in the main proceedings, for the court or tribunal of
first instance to treat the application for international protection as an application under the
second sentence of Article 1(D) of the Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and
to carry out the assessment provided for in Article 12(1)(a) of Directive 2011/95 where the
application for international protection has been made by a stateless person of Palestinian origin
who is registered as a refugee with the UNRWA and who, before making that application, was
resident within that agency’s area of operations (the Gaza Strip) and where, in the decision
refusing international protection, that application was not examined in the light of the
abovementioned provisions?
(4) Does it follow from the provisions of Article 46(3) of Directive 2013/32, concerning the right to an
effective remedy incorporating the requirement of a “full and ex nunc examination of both facts
and points of law”, interpreted in conjunction with Article 33, Article 34 and the second
paragraph of Article 35 of that directive, Article 21(1) of Directive 2011/95 and Articles 18, 19
and 47 of the [Charter], that, in an appeal before a court or tribunal against a decision refusing
international protection adopted in accordance with Article 10(2) of Directive 2013/32, those
provisions permit the court or tribunal of first instance:
(a) to decide for the first time on the admissibility of the application for international protection
and on the refoulement of the stateless person to the country in which he or she was resident
before making the application for international protection, after requiring the determining
authority to produce the evidence necessary for that purpose and after giving the person in
question the opportunity to present his or her views on the admissibility of the application; or
(b) to annul the decision for breach of an essential procedural requirement and to require the
determining authority, following directions on the interpretation and application of the law, to
re-examine the application for international protection, inter alia, by conducting the
admissibility interview provided for in Article 34 of Directive 2013/32 and deciding whether
it is possible to return the stateless person to the country in which he or she was resident
before making the application for international protection;
(c) to assess the security status of the country in which the person had been resident, at the time
of the hearing or, where there have been fundamental changes in the situation that must be
taken into account in the person’s favour in the decision to be taken, at the time when
judgment is given?
(5) Does the assistance provided by [UNRWA] constitute ‘sufficient protection’ otherwise enjoyed,
within the meaning of point (b) of the first paragraph of Article 35 of Directive 2013/32, in the
relevant country within the agency’s area of operations where that country applies the principle of
non-refoulement, within the meaning of the 1951 Geneva Convention …, to persons assisted by
the agency?
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