DUBLIN II REGULATION Lives on hold European Comparative Report Project HOME/2010/ERFX/CA/1721 DUBLIN II REGULATION Lives on hold European Comparative Report February 2013 Contents Acknowledgements .................................................................................................4 Abbreviations ...........................................................................................................4 Executive Summary .................................................................................................5 I. Introduction ........................................................................................................12 1.1. Legal Framework ................................................................................................................................13 1.1.1. From Schengen and beyond .....................................................................................................13 1.1.2. The Dublin Regulation ...............................................................................................................14 1.1.2.1. European Jurisprudence: Cracks in the Dublin system .................................................16 1.1.3. Recasting the Dublin Regulation ...............................................................................................17 II. Methodology ......................................................................................................18 III. Statistics and the cost of the Dublin system .................................................20 3.1. Dublin Regulation statistics ................................................................................................................21 3.2. Operational cost of the Dublin system ...............................................................................................23 IV. Report Findings ................................................................................................26 IV. The application of the Dublin Regulation criteria ..................................................................................27 4.1. The hierarchy of criteria ......................................................................................................................27 4.2. Unaccompanied children (Art. 6) .......................................................................................................28 4.2.1. Interpretation of Art. 6 ...............................................................................................................28 4.2.2. The application of the best interests of the child principle .......................................................29 4.2.3. Family tracing ............................................................................................................................30 4.2.4. Appointment of a guardian during the Dublin procedure..........................................................31 4.2.5. Age assessment ........................................................................................................................32 4.3. The Family unity provisions (Art. 7, 8 & 14) ........................................................................................34 4.3.1. Family definition (Art. 2(i)) ..........................................................................................................34 4.3.2. Family unity and the application of the Dublin Regulation (Art. 7, 8 &14) .......................................35 4.3.3. Simultaneous applications from family members (Art. 14) ........................................................40 4.4. Visas and residence documents (Art. 9) ............................................................................................40 4.5. Irregular border crossing and Eurodac (Art. 10) ................................................................................42 V. The use of Discretionary Provisions ........................................................................................................46 5.1. Sovereignty clause (Art. 3(2)) ..............................................................................................................46 5.1.1. Procedural aspects of the sovereignty clause ...........................................................................46 5.1.2. Application of the sovereignty clause for vulnerable persons ...................................................48 5.1.3. Application of the sovereignty clause for reasons of general conditions in another Member State.....................................................................................................................49 5.2. Humanitarian clause (Art. 15) .............................................................................................................50 VI. Procedural Safeguards ............................................................................................................................55 6.1. Access to information .........................................................................................................................55 6.1.1. Information leaflets ....................................................................................................................55 6.1.2. Information on the potential application of the Dublin Regulation in an individual case ...........56 6.2. A personal interview ...........................................................................................................................58 6.3. Access to Dublin case files ................................................................................................................59 6.4. Notification of the transfer decision ...................................................................................................60 6.5. Appeals ................................................................................................................................................62 6.5.1. Suspensive effect of appeals ....................................................................................................63 6.5.2. The competence of the Court ...................................................................................................64 6.5.3. Access to a Higher Court of Appeal ..........................................................................................64 6.5.4. Practical obstacles to accessing an effective remedy ...............................................................65 6.5.5. Other review mechanisms .........................................................................................................65 6.5.6. Legal Aid ...................................................................................................................................66 6.6. Access to the asylum procedure .......................................................................................................67 6.6.1. Access to the asylum procedure in a take back situation .........................................................68 6.6.2. Access to the asylum procedure in a take charge situation ......................................................70 6.6.3. Access to the asylum procedure in a Member State which took over responsibility for an asylum application and repeat Dublin Regulation cases .............................71 VII. Vulnerable Persons subject to the Dublin Procedure ..........................................................................75 7.1. Medical examinations within the Dublin procedure ..........................................................................75 7.2. Impact of vulnerability on Dublin transfers ........................................................................................76 7.3. Continuity of care within the Dublin procedure .................................................................................77 VIII. Reception Conditions and Detention ...................................................................................................81 8.1. Reception conditions ..........................................................................................................................81 8.1.1. Reception conditions pending transfer in the requesting Member State ................................81 8.1.2. Reception conditions in the responsible Member State ..........................................................83 8.2. Detention .............................................................................................................................................84 IX. Practical Aspects of the Dublin Regulation ...........................................................................................90 9.1. Transfer procedures ............................................................................................................................90 9.1.1. Responsible authorities .............................................................................................................90 9.1.2. Transfer methods and modalities ..............................................................................................90 9.1.3. Voluntary return to the country of origin ...................................................................................92 9.2. Time Limits ..........................................................................................................................................93 9.2.1. Respect for time limits ..............................................................................................................93