Case Law

(i)Said [2016] EWCA Civ 442 is not to be read to exclude the possibility that Article 3 ECHR could be engaged by conditions of extreme material deprivation. Factors to be considered include the location where the harm arises, and whether it results from deliberate action or omission. (ii) In cases where the material deprivation is not intentionally caused the threshold is the modified N test set out in AM (Zimbabwe) [2020] UKSC 17. The question will be whether conditions are such that there is a real risk that the individual concerned will be exposed to intense suffering or a significant reduction in life expectancy. (iii) The Qualification Directive continues to have direct effect following the UK withdrawal from the EU.

22 July 2021 | Judicial Body: United Kingdom: Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) | Legal Instrument: 1950 European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) | Topic(s): EU Qualification Directive - Freedom from torture, inhuman and degrading treatment - Livelihoods | Countries: Somalia - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

The concept of ‘protection’ of the ‘country of nationality’ in Article 2(c) and Article 11(1)(e) of Council Directive 2004/83/EC of 29 April 2004 on minimum standards for the qualification and status of third country nationals or stateless persons as refugees or as persons who otherwise need international protection and the content of the protection granted refers primarily to State protection on the part of an applicant’s country of nationality. It is nonetheless necessarily implicit in the provisions of Article 7(1)(b) and (2) Directive 2004/83 that in certain instances actors other than the State, such as parties or organisations can supply protection deemed equivalent to State protection in lieu of the State where those non-State actors control all or a substantial part of a State and have also sought to replicate traditional State functions by providing or supporting a functioning legal and policing system based on the rule of law. Mere financial and/or material support provided by non-State actors falls below the threshold of protection envisaged by Article 7 of Directive 2004/83. In order to ascertain whether a person has a well-founded fear of persecution, in accordance with Article 2(c) of Directive 2004/83, from non-State actors, the availability of ‘protection’ as described by Article 7(2) of that directive by actors of protection must be taken into consideration. The same analysis must be conducted in respect of the cessation of refugee status in accordance with Article 11(1)(e) of Directive 2004/83. The term ‘the protection of country of nationality’ in Article 11(1)(e) of Directive 2004/83 implies that any inquiry as to the nature of the protection available in that country in the context of a cessation decision is the same as envisaged by Article 7 of that directive. In order to arrive at the conclusion that a refugee’s fear of being persecuted is no longer well-founded, the competent authorities, by reference to Article 7(2) of Directive 2004/83, must verify, having regard to the refugee’s individual situation, that the actor or actors of protection of the third country in question have taken reasonable steps to prevent the persecution, that they therefore operate, inter alia, an effective legal system for the detection, prosecution and punishment of acts constituting persecution and that the national concerned will have access to such protection if he or she ceases to have refugee status.

30 April 2020 | Judicial Body: European Union: Court of Justice of the European Union | Legal Instrument: 2004 Qualification Directive (EU) | Topic(s): Cessation clauses - Changes of circumstances in home country - EU Qualification Directive - State protection | Countries: Somalia - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Heard at Field House on 13 to 21 June and 15 July 2011.

25 November 2011 | Judicial Body: United Kingdom: Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) | Topic(s): Complementary forms of protection - EU Qualification Directive - Female genital mutilation (FGM) - Internal flight alternative (IFA) / Internal relocation alternative (IRA) / Internal protection alternative (IPA) | Countries: Somalia - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

28 June 2011 | Judicial Body: Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights | Topic(s): Complementary forms of protection - Country of origin information (COI) - Deportation / Forcible return - EU Qualification Directive - Freedom from torture, inhuman and degrading treatment - Internal armed conflict - Internal flight alternative (IFA) / Internal relocation alternative (IRA) / Internal protection alternative (IPA) - International protection - Rejected asylum-seekers - Returnees - Security situation | Countries: Somalia - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Heard at: Field House on 4 April 2011.

19 May 2011 | Judicial Body: United Kingdom: Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) | Topic(s): Complementary forms of protection - Country of origin information (COI) - EU Qualification Directive - Extended definition - Internal armed conflict - Internal flight alternative (IFA) / Internal relocation alternative (IRA) / Internal protection alternative (IPA) | Countries: Somalia - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

16 May 2011 | Judicial Body: Belgium: Conseil du Contentieux des Etrangers | Topic(s): Complementary forms of protection - EU Qualification Directive - Internal armed conflict - Security situation | Countries: Belgium - Somalia

Petition for judicial review.

21 December 2010 | Judicial Body: United Kingdom: Court of Session (Scotland) | Topic(s): Bajuni - Complementary forms of protection - Country of origin information (COI) - EU Qualification Directive - Fresh / New claim - Internal armed conflict - Internally displaced persons (IDPs) | Countries: Somalia - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

The judgment was subsequently appealed before the Supreme Court: [2010] UKSC 49.

23 April 2010 | Judicial Body: United Kingdom: Court of Appeal (England and Wales) | Topic(s): Burden of proof - Complementary forms of protection - Deportation / Forcible return - EU Qualification Directive - Illegal entry - Non-refoulement - Security situation | Countries: Somalia - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

The case summary in English has been prepared in the framework of the Knowledge-Based Harmonisation of European Asylum Practices Project (2010-2012), co-financed by the European Refugee Fund.

27 January 2009 | Judicial Body: United Kingdom: Asylum and Immigration Tribunal / Immigration Appellate Authority | Topic(s): Complementary forms of protection - Country of origin information (COI) - EU Qualification Directive - Internal armed conflict - Internal flight alternative (IFA) / Internal relocation alternative (IRA) / Internal protection alternative (IPA) - Internally displaced persons (IDPs) - Racial / Ethnic persecution - Returnees - Sheikhal | Countries: Somalia - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Heard at Field House on 19 to 22 November 2007. This determination supersedes FK (Shekal Ghandershe) Somalia v. Secretary of State for the Home Department CG [2004] UKIAT 00127 and AA (Risk – Geledi - Benadiri Clan) Somalia v. Secretary of State for the Home Department [2002] UKIAT 05720. This determination was superseded by AM & AM (Armed Conflict: Risk Categories) Somalia CG [2008] UKAIT 00091.

28 January 2008 | Judicial Body: United Kingdom: Asylum and Immigration Tribunal / Immigration Appellate Authority | Topic(s): Complementary forms of protection - Country of origin information (COI) - EU Qualification Directive - Evidence (including age and language assessments / medico-legal reports) - International humanitarian law (IHL) / Geneva Conventions - Non-state agents of persecution - Racial / Ethnic persecution - Women-at-risk | Countries: Somalia - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland