- BY Colin Yeo
CJEU: designation of a third country as a safe country of origin must cover its entire territory
THANKS FOR READING
Older content is locked
A great deal of time and effort goes into producing the information on Free Movement, become a member of Free Movement to get unlimited access to all articles, and much, much more
TAKE FREE MOVEMENT FURTHER
By becoming a member of Free Movement, you not only support the hard-work that goes into maintaining the website, but get access to premium features;
- Single login for personal use
- FREE downloads of Free Movement ebooks
- Access to all Free Movement blog content
- Access to all our online training materials
- Access to our busy forums
- Downloadable CPD certificates
The European Court of Justice has handed down a case reminding EU member states that they can only designate whole countries, not parts of countries, as safe:
The Court of Justice specifies the conditions for the designation by a Member State of third countries as safe countries of origin under the directive on common procedures for international protection. It considers that the fact that a third country derogates from the obligations under the ECHR does not preclude it from being designated as such. The authorities of the Member States must, however, assess whether the conditions for implementing the right to derogate are capable of calling that designation into question. Furthermore, the Court holds that EU law precludes a Member State from designating a third country as a safe country of origin for only part of its territory. In addition, the national court called upon to verify the lawfulness of an administrative decision on international protection must raise of its own motion, as part of its full examination, a failure to take account of the rules of EU law relating to the designation of safe countries of origin.
That quote is from the press release. The full judgment is available in Czech and French only as Case C-406/22 Ministerstvo vnitra České republiky, Odbor azylové a migrační politiky.