Information Note on the Court’s case-law 35

October 2001

Kalantari v. Germany - 51342/99

Judgment 11.10.2001 [Section IV]

Article 3

Expulsion

Threatened expulsion to Iran: struck out

Facts : The applicant, an Iranian national, fled Iran and entered Germany where he applied for the status of political refugee. The Federal Office for Refugees rejected his application. That rejection was upheld by t he Administrative Court and then by the Administrative Court of Appeal. A new application made by the applicant was rejected by the Federal Office for Refugees and, on the ground that the applicant had failed to show that he would be at risk of political p ersecution if he returned to his country, the Administrative Court dismissed his application to have the expulsion order stayed. The Federal Constitutional Court did not allow the appeal. The trial on the merits is still pending in the Administrative Court , but since it has no suspensive effect, the applicant could be expelled to Iran at any moment. He fled to France, where he is probably in hiding. In January 2000 the Fourth Section decided to apply Rule 39 of the Rules of Court and asked the parties for m ore information, in particular about the persecution suffered by the applicant’s family. The Government informed the Court that they were not in a position to furnish the information requested. The applicant’s sister, however, provided further information and produced documents on the persecution suffered by her family. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights’ Special Rapporteur on Torture sent the Court an extract from a public report which mentioned an appeal he had made in August 1999 against the a pplicant’s expulsion, on account of the risk of torture he would face in Iran. In a letter of June 2001 the Government informed the Court that on 15 June 2001 the Federal Office for Refugees had annulled its decision of August 1998 on the ground that there was a legal obstacle to the applicant’s extradition. As a result, the applicant will not be extradited to Iran.

Law : Article 3 – Having regard to the Federal Office for Refugees’ decision of 15 June 2001, there was no longer any justification for continui ng the examination of the application. There were no grounds relating to respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and the Protocols thereto that made it necessary to continue examining the application.

Conclusion : struck out of the list (unani mously).

Rule 44 § 3 of the Rules of Court – The Court awarded 16,000 German marks for costs and expenses.

© Council of Europe/European Court of Human Rights This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court.

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