AUAD v. BULGARIA JUDGMENT 39 Lebanon. Nor is there any indication as to whether, if the authorities choose to send the applicant to a third country, they will properly examine whether he would in turn be sent from there to Lebanon without due consideration for the risk of ill-treatment. The Court reiterates that under its case-law removal to an intermediary country does not affect the responsibility of the expelling State to ensure that the applicant is not exposed to treatment contrary to Article 3 as a result of the decision to expel (see T.I. v. the United Kingdom, cited above; Salah Sheekh, cited above, § 141; K.R.S. v. the United Kingdom (dec.), no. 32733/08, 2 December 2008; Abdolkhani and Karimnia, cited above, § 88; Babar Ahmad and Others, cited above, §§ 113-16; and M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece, cited above, §§ 338-61). 107. The lack of a legal framework providing adequate safeguards in this domain allows the Court to conclude that there are substantial grounds for believing that the applicant risks a violation of his rights under Article 3 (see, mutatis mutandis, Abdolkhani and Karimnia, cited above, § 89). In this connection, the Court finds it necessary to reiterate that the grave and irreversible nature of the potential consequences is such that the matter calls for rigorous scrutiny. 108. In view of those considerations, the Court concludes that the applicant’s expulsion, if carried out, would be in breach of Article 3 of the Convention. II. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 8 OF THE CONVENTION 109. The applicant complained under Article 8 of the Convention that his expulsion would be unlawful and disproportionate. 110. Article 8 provides, in so far as relevant: “1. Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life ... 2. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.” 111. The Court observes at the outset that, in so far as the applicant may be taken to rely on Article 8 in relation to any risk to his physical integrity as a result of his expulsion, the issue has already been addressed in the Court’s reasoning under Article 3. In so far as the applicant may be taken to rely on Article 8 in relation to any private or family life in Bulgaria, the Court notes that he has not alleged that he has a family life or, indeed, any relatives in Bulgaria. Nor does it appear that he has a private life in that country. He arrived there on 24 May 2009, tried to leave in August 2009, and was later settled in a housing facility operated by the State Refugees Agency. He was granted humanitarian protection on 29 October 2009, but