Extending the time limit of examination procedures under Article 31(3)(b) of the Asylum Procedures Directive

This Opinion addressed the interpretation of Article 31(3)(b) of the Asylum Procedures Directive by answering three questions referred for preliminary ruling by the Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State. Question 1a concerns the manner in which ‘simultaneously’ submitted requests for international protection must be interpreted. The Opinion concludes that Article 31(3)(b) of…

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Compatibility of the ‘obligation to successfully pass integration exams’ with Article34 of EU Qualification Directive

This Expert Opinion argues that the question whether Article 34 of the QD precludes a Dutch law implementing ‘the obligation to pass the integration exam successfully within a period of three years, under pain of a fine’ needs to be answered in the positive. At the outset, Article 34 of the QD contains a strict…

Non-disclosure of evidence in cases concerning withdrawal of nationality of persons suspected of involvement in the Rwandan genocide

This expert opinion addresses the withdrawal of nationality of persons who fled Rwanda during or afterthe genocide in 1994 and obtained an asylum status and subsequently Dutch nationality in theNetherlands. The decisions to withdraw nationality are based on an individual report (individueelambtsbericht) of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which provides information about the allegedinvolvement…

Legality of sanctions on the noise protest by asylum seekers in a reception centre

This Expert Opinion addressed the legality of the sanction imposed on asylum seekers who used potsand spoons to generate noise during their protest against their living conditions in a reception centrein the Netherlands. The imposed sanction consisted in the withdrawal of their weekly allowance(€12.95/week) during a period of four weeks. This Opinion focuses on the…

Symposium marking the 10th anniversary of the Migration Law Clinic

This year, the Migration law Clinic (MLC) will be celebrating its tenth anniversary. To this aim, the Amsterdam Centre for Migration and Refugee Law (ACMRL) organises a symposium at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. The objective of the symposium is to reflect on the experience we have built with the MLC. The Symposium will help us identify strengths…

ECJ: Conviction for a particularly serious crime is not sufficient in itself for revocation of refugee status

According to Article 14(4)(b) of the Qualification Directive, a refugee may be deprived of protection status if “he or she, having been convicted by a final judgment of a particularly serious crime, constitutes a danger to the community”. This open wording prompted Member States to set widely divergent requirements for the revocation of refugee status,…

EU Citizen Rights Advice: The Right to Homeless Shelters and Social Assistance

[EN, Dutch below] In response to a request sent in by a social worker from an NGO, the students of the EU Citizen Rights Corner published a legal advice regarding the access to shelter and social assistance for EU migrant workers who lost their jobs. The central question of this advice is whether it is…