JUDGMENT
OF
25. 7. 2018 — CASE C-585/16
ALHETO
– being applicable even if the applicant for international protection has not expressly referred to
them.
The third question
102
By its third question, the referring court asks, in essence, whether Article 46(3) of Directive 2013/32,
read in conjunction with Article 47 of the Charter, must be interpreted as meaning that a court or
tribunal of a Member State seised at first instance of an appeal against a decision on an application
for international protection may take into account matters of fact or of law, such as the applicability of
Article 12(1)(a) of Directive 2011/95 to the applicant’s circumstances, which were not examined by the
body that took that decision.
103
In that regard, it should be noted, first of all, that Directive 2013/32 distinguishes between the
‘determining authority’, which it defines in Article 2(f) as ‘any quasi-judicial or administrative body in
a Member State responsible for examining applications for international protection competent to take
decisions at first instance in such cases’ and the ‘court or tribunal’ referred to in Article 46. The
procedure before a determining authority is governed by the provisions of Chapter III of that
directive, entitled ‘Procedures at first instance’, while the procedure before a court or tribunal must
comply with the rules laid down in Chapter V of that directive, entitled ‘Appeals procedures’ which is
made up of Article 46.
104
Since Article 46(3) of Directive 2013/32 concerns, in accordance with its wording, ‘at least … appeals
procedures before a court or tribunal of first instance’, the interpretation of that provision set out
below applies, at the very least, to any court or tribunal seised of the initial action against a decision
by which the determining authority initially ruled on an application. It follows from Article 2(f), of
that directive that that is also the case when that authority has a quasi-judicial character.
105
It must be recalled, next, that Article 46(3) of Directive 2013/32 defines the scope of the right to an
effective remedy which applicants for international protection must enjoy, as provided for in
Article 46(1) of that directive, against decisions concerning their application.
106
Thus, Article 46(3) of Directive 2013/32 states that, in order to comply with Article 46(1) of that
directive, Member States bound by that directive must ensure that the court or tribunal before which
the decision relating to the application for international protection is contested carries out ‘a full and
ex nunc examination of both facts and points of law, including, where applicable, an examination of
the international protection needs pursuant to Directive [2011/95]’.
107
In the absence of any reference to the laws of the Member States, and having regard to the purpose of
Directive 2013/32, set out in recital 4 thereof, those words must be interpreted and applied in a
uniform manner. Moreover, as recital 13 of that directive states, the approximation of rules under that
directive aims to create equivalent conditions for the application of Directive 2011/95 in the Member
States and to limit the movements of applicants for international protection between Member States.
108
According to the Court’s settled case-law, it is necessary to determine the scope of those words in
accordance with their ordinary meaning, while also taking into account the context in which they
occur and the purposes of the rules of which they form part (see, inter alia, judgments of 30 January
2014, Diakité, C-285/12, EU:C:2014:39, paragraph 27; of 11 June 2015, Zh. and O., C-554/13,
EU:C:2015:377, paragraph 29, and of 26 July 2017, Jafari, C-646/16, EU:C:2017:586, paragraph 73).
109
In that regard, apart from the fact that it pursues the overall purpose of establishing common
procedural standards, Directive 2013/32 seeks in particular, as is apparent inter alia from recital 18, to
ensure that applications for international protection are dealt with ‘as soon as possible …, without
prejudice to an adequate and complete examination being carried out’.
20
ECLI:EU:C:2018:584