Directive 2013/32/EU of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1 Purpose

The purpose of this Directive is to establish common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection pursuant to Directive 2011/95/EU.

Article 2 Definitions

For the purposes of this Directive:

(a)

‘Geneva Convention’ means the Convention of 28 July 1951 Relating to the Status of Refugees, as amended by the New York Protocol of 31 January 1967;

(b)

‘application for international protection’ or ‘application’ means a request made by a third- country national or a stateless person for protection from a Member State, who can be understood to seek refugee status or subsidiary protection status, and who does not explicitly request another kind of protection outside the scope of Directive 2011/95/EU, that can be applied for separately;

(c)

‘applicant’ means a third-country national or stateless person who has made an application for international protection in respect of which a final decision has not yet been taken;

(d)

‘applicant in need of special procedural guarantees’ means an applicant whose ability to benefit from the rights and comply with the obligations provided for in this Directive is limited due to individual circumstances;

(e)

‘final decision’ means a decision on whether the third-country national or stateless person be granted refugee or subsidiary protection status by virtue of Directive 2011/95/EU and which is no longer subject to a remedy within the framework of Chapter V of this Directive, irrespective of whether such remedy has the effect of allowing applicants to remain in the Member States concerned pending its outcome;

(f)

‘determining authority’ means any quasi-judicial or administrative body in a Member State responsible for examining applications for international protection competent to take decisions at first instance in such cases;

(g)

‘refugee’ means a third-country national or a stateless person who fulfils the requirements of Article 2(d) of Directive 2011/95/EU;

(h)

‘person eligible for subsidiary protection’ means a third-country national or a stateless person who fulfils the requirements of Article 2(f) of Directive 2011/95/EU;

(i)

‘international protection’ means refugee status and subsidiary protection status as defined in points (j) and (k);

(j)

‘refugee status’ means the recognition by a Member State of a third-country national or a stateless person as a refugee;

(k)

‘subsidiary protection status’ means the recognition by a Member State of a third-country national or a stateless person as a person eligible for subsidiary protection;

(l)

‘minor’ means a third-country national or a stateless person below the age of 18 years;

(m)

‘unaccompanied minor’ means an unaccompanied minor as defined in Article 2(l) of Directive 2011/95/EU;

(n)

‘representative’ means a person or an organisation appointed by the competent bodies in order to assist and represent an unaccompanied minor in procedures provided for in this Directive with a view to ensuring the best interests of the child and exercising legal capacity for the minor where necessary. Where an organisation is appointed as a representative, it shall designate a person responsible for carrying out the duties of representative in respect of the unaccompanied minor, in accordance with this Directive;

(o)

‘withdrawal of international protection’ means the decision by a competent authority to revoke, end or refuse to renew the refugee or subsidiary protection status of a person in accordance with Directive 2011/95/EU;

(p)

‘remain in the Member State’ means to remain in the territory, including at the border or in transit zones, of the Member State in which the application for international protection has been made or is being examined;

(q)

‘subsequent application’ means a further application for international protection made after a final decision has been taken on a previous application, including cases where the applicant has explicitly withdrawn his or her application and cases where the determining authority has rejected an application following its implicit withdrawal in accordance with Article 28(1).

Article 3 Scope

1. This Directive shall apply to all applications for international protection made in the territory, including at the border, in the territorial waters or in the transit zones of the Member States, and to the withdrawal of international protection.

2. This Directive shall not apply to requests for diplomatic or territorial asylum submitted to representations of Member States.

3. Member States may decide to apply this Directive in procedures for deciding on applications for any kind of protection falling outside of the scope of Directive 2011/95/EU.

Article 4 Responsible authorities

1. Member States shall designate for all procedures a determining authority which will be responsible for an appropriate examination of applications in accordance with this Directive. Member States shall ensure that such authority is provided with appropriate means, including sufficient competent personnel, to carry out its tasks in accordance with this Directive.

2. Member States may provide that an authority other than that referred to in paragraph 1 shall be responsible for the purposes of:

(a) processing cases pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 604/2013; and

(b) granting or refusing permission to enter in the framework of the procedure provided for in Article 43, subject to the conditions as set out therein and on the basis of the reasoned opinion of the determining authority.

3. Member States shall ensure that the personnel of the determining authority referred to in paragraph 1 are properly trained. To that end, Member States shall provide for relevant training which shall include the elements listed in Article 6(4)(a) to (e) of Regulation (EU) No 439/2010. Member States shall also take into account the relevant training established and developed by the European Asylum Support Office (EASO). Persons interviewing applicants pursuant to this Directive shall also have acquired general knowledge of problems which could adversely affect the applicants’ ability to be interviewed, such as indications that the applicant may have been tortured in the past.

4. Where an authority is designated in accordance with paragraph 2, Member States shall ensure that the personnel of that authority have the appropriate knowledge or receive the necessary training to fulfil their obligations when implementing this Directive.

5. Applications for international protection made in a Member State to the authorities of another Member State carrying out border or immigration controls there shall be dealt with by the Member State in whose territory the application is made.

Article 5 More favourable provisions

Member States may introduce or retain more favourable standards on procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection, insofar as those standards are compatible with this Directive.