| Applicant name | TK |
| Applicant type | Natural person (immigrant) |
| Number of applicants | 1 |
| Country | Greece |
| Application no. | 16112/20 |
| Date | 18/01/2024 |
| Judges | Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström, présidente, Lado Chanturia, Mattias Guyomar |
| Institution | Court |
| Type | Judgment |
| Outcome Art. 8 | Violation |
| Reason | Positive obligation |
| Type of privacy | Procedural privacy; private life |
| Keywords | Procedural safeguards; minor immigrant |
| Facts of the case | The applicant maintains that the authorities failed in their obligation to recognize him as an unaccompanied minor and, in this way, deprived him of the procedural guarantees reserved for minors for a considerable period. The Government maintains that the authorities had to face an unprecedented crisis linked to Covid-19, which caused delays and problems in all asylum procedures. |
| Analysis | The Court notes that the principle of presumption of minority in case of doubt, while at the time of the applicant’s arrival, the authorities registered him as an adult. However, it notes that when he received the copy of his birth certificate, the applicant immediately attempted to submit it to the authorities who, however, refused to take it into consideration with a view to possible registration of the application asylum. It further notes that when the applicant again brought the copy of his birth certificate to the attention of the authorities when registering his asylum application, they refused to take it into account due to procedural defects. Although the authorities decided to initiate the age determination procedure on March 5, 2020, they did not actually launch it until March 8, 2021 and the Government presents no justification for this. Therefore, the authorities considered the applicant as an adult for a year, and deprived him of procedural guarantees in breach of the principle of the presumption of minority. |
| Other Article violation? | Yes, Violation 3 and 13 ECHR. |
| Damage awarded | This , a) that the respondent State must pay to the applicant, within three months, the sum of 10,000 EUR (ten thousand euros), plus any amount that may be due as tax, for non-pecuniary damage ; b) that from the expiry of the said period and until payment, this amount will be increased by simple interest at a rate equal to that of the marginal lending facility of the European Central Bank applicable during this period, increased by three percentage points ; |
| Documents | Judgment |