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SM v Entry Clearance Officer, UK Visa Section (C-129/18) (request for preliminary ruling)
The concept of a ‘direct descendant’ of a citizen of the Union referred to in Article 2(2)(c) of Directive 2004/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States, amending Regulation (EEC) No 1612/68 and repealing Directives 64/221/EEC, 68/360/EEC, 72/194/EEC, 73/148/EEC, 75/34/EEC, 75/35/EEC, 90/364/EEC, 90/365/EEC and 93/96/EEC must be interpreted as not including a child who has been placed in the permanent legal guardianship of a citizen of the Union under the Algerian kafala system, because that placement does not create any parent-child relationship between them. However, it is for the competent national authorities to facilitate the entry and residence of such a child as one of the other family members of a citizen of the Union pursuant to Article 3(2)(a) of that directive, read in the light of Article 7 and Article 24(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, by carrying out a balanced and reasonable assessment of all the current and relevant circumstances of the case which takes account of the various interests in play and, in particular, of the best interests of the child concerned. In the event that it is established, following that assessment, that the child and its guardian, who is a citizen of the Union, are called to lead a genuine family life and that that child is dependent on its guardian, the requirements relating to the fundamental right to respect for family life, combined with the obligation to take account of the best interests of the child, demand, in principle, that that child be granted a right of entry and residence in order to enable it to live with its guardian in his or her host Member State. 26 March 2019 | Judicial Body: European Union: Court of Justice of the European Union | Topic(s): Adoption - Family reunification | Countries: Algeria - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland |
OPINION OF ADVOCATE GENERAL CAMPOS SÁNCHEZ-BORDONA delivered on 26 February 2019(1) Case C‑129/18 SM v Entry Clearance Officer, UK Visa Section
I suggest that the Court of Justice should reply to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in the following terms: (1) Article 2(2)(c) of Directive 2004/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States amending Regulation (EEC) No 1612/68 and repealing Directives 64/221/EEC, 68/360/EEC, 72/194/EEC, 73/148/EEC, 75/34/EEC, 75/35/EEC, 90/364/EEC, 90/365/EEC and 93/96/EEC is to be interpreted as meaning that a child cannot be classed as a ‘direct descendant’ of a Union citizen where the child is only in the legal guardianship of that Union citizen under the institution of recueil legal (kafala) that applies in the Republic of Algeria. That child may, however, fall within the category of ‘other family members’ if the other requirements are satisfied and following completion of the procedure laid down in Article 3(2) of Directive 2004/38, in which case the host Member State must facilitate his or her entry and residence in that Member State in accordance with national legislation, having weighed the protection of family life and the defence of the child’s best interests. (2) Articles 27 and 35 of Directive 2004/38 can be applied in any of the situations referred to in that directive where grounds of public policy, public security or public health apply, and in the event of abuse of rights or fraud. (3) In applying Article 3(2) of Directive 2004/38, the authorities of the host Member State may enquire into whether sufficient regard was had, in the procedure for awarding guardianship or custody, to the best interests of the child. 26 February 2019 | Judicial Body: European Union: Court of Justice of the European Union | Legal Instrument: 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) | Topic(s): Adoption - Family reunification | Countries: Algeria - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland |
The Queen (on the application of MS) (a child by his litigation friend MAS) v Secretary of State for the Home Department
whether MAS, who is lawfully present in the UK, is the brother of MS, an unaccompanied minor who has made an asylum application in France; whether the UK has a duty of investigation once it receives a take charge request and the scope of any such duty 19 July 2018 | Judicial Body: United Kingdom: Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) | Legal Instrument: 2013 Dublin III Regulation (EU) | Topic(s): Family reunification | Countries: Afghanistan - France - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland |
R. (on the application of Al-Anizy) v. Secretary of State for the Home Department
25 April 2017 | Judicial Body: United Kingdom: Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) | Topic(s): Family reunification - Refugee status determination (RSD) / Asylum procedures - Right to family life - Visas | Countries: Iraq - Kuwait - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland |
R (on the application of MM (Lebanon)) (Appellant) v. Secretary of State for the Home Department (Respondent), R (on the application of Abdul Majid (Pakistan)) (Appellant) v. Secretary of State for the Home Department (Respondent), R (on the application of Master AF) (Appellant) v. Secretary of State for the Home Department (Respondent), R (on the application of Shabana Javed (Pakistan)) (Appellant) v. Secretary of State for the Home Department (Respondent), SS (Congo) (Appellant) v. Entry Clearance Officer, Nairobi (Respondent)
22 February 2017 | Judicial Body: United Kingdom: Supreme Court | Topic(s): Family reunification - Immigration law | Countries: Lebanon - Pakistan - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland |
R (on the application of Agyarko) (Appellant) v. Secretary of State for the Home Department (Respondent)
R (on the application of Ikuga) (Appellant) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Respondent)
22 February 2017 | Judicial Body: United Kingdom: Supreme Court | Topic(s): Family reunification - Right to family life | Countries: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland |
Hesham Ali (Iraq) (Appellant) v Secretary of State
for the Home Department (Respondent)
16 November 2016 | Judicial Body: United Kingdom: Supreme Court | Topic(s): Family reunification - Immigration law | Countries: Tunisia - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland |
Makhlouf (Appellant) v Secretary of State for the
Home Department (Respondent) (Northern
Ireland)
16 November 2016 | Judicial Body: United Kingdom: Supreme Court | Topic(s): Family reunification | Countries: Tunisia - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland |
Secretary of State for the Home Department v ZAT
2 August 2016 | Judicial Body: United Kingdom: Court of Appeal (England and Wales) | Topic(s): Burden-sharing and international co-operation - Children's rights - Children-at-risk - Family reunification - Persons with disabilities - Regional instruments - Unaccompanied / Separated children | Countries: France - Syrian Arab Republic - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland |
R (on the application of The Public Law Project)
(Appellant) v Lord Chancellor (Respondent)
13 July 2016 | Judicial Body: United Kingdom: Supreme Court | Topic(s): Family law - Family reunification | Countries: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland |