Type: Judgment

Authority: European Authorities: Euopean Union' Court of Justice

Date: 09/21/2023

Subject: According to the Court, in order for the opinions, ideas or beliefs of an applicant who has not yet attracted the negative interest of the potential actors of persecution in his or her country of origin to fall within the concept of ‘political opinion’ or ‘political characteristic’, it is sufficient for that applicant to claim that he or she has or expresses those opinions, thoughts or beliefs. That is without prejudice to the assessment of whether the applicant’s fear of being persecuted on account of his or her political opinions is well founded. The Court affirmed that for the purposes of assessing whether an applicant’s fear of persecution on account of his or her political opinions is well founded, the competent authorities of the Member States must take account of the fact that those political opinions, owing to the degree of conviction with which they are expressed or the possible engagement by that applicant in activities to promote those opinions, could have attracted or may attract the negative interest of the actors of potential persecution in that applicant’s country of origin. It is not however required that the same opinions be so deeply rooted in the applicant that he or she could not refrain, if returned to his or her country of origin, from manifesting them, thereby exposing himself or herself to the risk of suffering acts of persecution

Classification: Freedoms - Art. 18 Refugees

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