CJEU rules on the application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights to asylum seekers who have a fear of persecution on grounds of sexual orientation

18/12/14

Joined Cases C-148-150/13 A, B and C, judgment of 2 December 2014

The CJEU has laid down important guidance on the constraints placed by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights on the powers of national authorities when assessing asylum claims based on sexual orientation grounds. 

The Court accepted the submissions made by the UNHCR as to the application of Articles 1 (right to respect for human dignity) and 7 of the Charter (right to respect for private and family life) and held that those provisions preclude Member States from:

• testing the evidence of an asylum seeker on the basis of questions based on stereotyped notions of homosexuality;
• carrying out detailed questioning as to the sexual practices of the claimant;
• accepting evidence from the claimant based on ‘tests’ with a view to establishing his homosexuality or the production of films evidencing homosexual acts; and
• finding that a claimant lacks credibility merely because he did not rely on his sexual orientation at the first opportunity available to him.

The judgment is here.