(Judgments in cases С-542/13, M’Bodj и C-562/13, Abdida)

Dr. Valeria Ilareva

In cases M’Bodj and Abdida, the judgments in which were delivered on the 18th December 2014, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the Advocate General Yves Bot considered and proposed solutions to important practical matters in the contemporary migration policy of the Member States of the European Union. First, the judgment in M’Bodj distinguishes between the reasons for seeking and providing international protection as defined by the Common European Asylum System, and other national types of protection derived from the obligations of the Member States to respect fundamental human rights and in particular the absolute prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment. Secondly, in Abdida, regarding the situation of persons who apply for the “other” type of protection, the Advocate General and the Court examined the issues of effective remedies against return, part of which is the right to automatic stay of the return procedure pending the outcome of the appeal, and the guarantees for a dignified and adequate standard of living of third country nationals who are staying illegally, but who cannot yet be returned. These cases illustrate “another reality, that of the specific legal and material situation in which migrants awaiting removal find themselves”. The Advocate General and the Court of Justice of the European Union do not turn a blind eye to the risk of inhuman and degrading treatment of those (marginalized) people in our communities and make small, but important steps to ensure their access to the right to meet their basic daily needs in accordance with their human dignity. These issues are highly topical in the Bulgarian migration context as well.

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Link to the article in Bulgarian language: ОТ „ТЪРСЕЩИ УБЕЖИЩЕ“ КЪМ „ХОРА“: ПРАВНОТО ПОЛОЖЕНИЕ НА ЧУЖДЕНЦИТЕ, КОИТО НЕ МОГАТ ДА БЪДАТ ОТВЕДЕНИ ПО ХУМАНИТАРНИ ПРИЧИНИ

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