EU Court Ruling on Subsidiary Protection

On 17 February the European Court of Justice ruled that an "applicant for subsidiary protection does not necessarily have to prove that he is specifically targeted in his country of origin by reason of factors particular to his circumstances."

Instead, the "degree of indiscriminate violence in the applicant's country of origin" should be enough for the competent authorities to decide that an applicant, if return to their country of origin, would face a "real risk of being subject to serious and individual threat."  This ruling concerns Article 15(c) of the Qualification Directive.
 
The ruling was made in the case of Meki Elgafaji and Noor Elgafaji v. Staatssecretaris van Justitie. In 2006 Mr. and Mrs. Elgafaji submitted applications for temporary residence in The Netherlands, along with evidence seeking to prove the real risk to which they would face if they were expelled back to their country of origin (in this case, Iraq).  The competent minister refused their application, and ruled that they did not establish a real risk of serious and individual threat in Iraq.  Mr. and Mrs. Elgafaji brought actions before a higher court.  This court referred a question to the Court of Justice, concerning Article 15(c) of the Qualification Directive, which asked: does the Directive's criterion of a "serious and individual threat" (under Article 15(c)) mean that an applicant for subsidiary protection is required to show evidence that he is "specifically targeted by reasons of factors particular to his circumstances?"  In other words, does the applicant have to show that there are specific and serious threats to his life?
 
In response, the Court of Justice ruled that applicants for subsidiary protection are not requried to establish evidence of a specific threat to their lives.  Instead, the existence of such a threat can be considered if the indiscriminate violence reaches such a high level that if an individual is returned to the relevant country or region, he would face a real risk of being subject to a serious and individual threat.
 
To read more details see the Court's press release, http://www.statewatch.org/news/2009/feb/ecj-judgment-int-prot-prel.pdf