CONCURRING OPINION OF JUDGE SAJÓ

In this case I agree with the judgment on all points. However, I find it necessary to explain the reason why I did not find it appropriate to award compensation for the alleged pecuniary loss. In my view, the applicant failed to provide documentary evidence that his employer had dismissed him on account of the Federal Administrative Court’s refusal to grant the asylum request. This is the reason for the finding of an “insufficient causal link”.

DISSENTING OPINION OF JUDGE KJØLBRO

1. I am not able to subscribe to the reasoning of the majority, and voted against finding a violation of Article 3 of the Convention.

2. Having regard to the general background information on Iran from a variety of sources, I fully concur with the majority that the applicant would face a real risk of ill-treatment in Iran, if the risk is assessed on the basis of the applicant’s account of the events that form the basis of his request for asylum in Switzerland. Therefore, the core issue is the credibility of the applicant’s account. In the assessment of the domestic authorities, the applicant’s account was not considered trustworthy and reliable. The question is, therefore, whether the Court has sufficient basis for overturning the assessment of the competent domestic authorities.

3. In asylum cases, the statements given by the asylum seeker, assessed in the light of the general background information on the country in question, are very often in practice the only or decisive basis for assessing the risk of persecution or ill-treatment in the country of origin. Therefore, an assessment of the credibility of the account given by the asylum seeker is an essential and important element in the processing of asylum cases. This is, in many cases, a difficult exercise in which many factors have to be taken into account (see, inter alia , Credibility Assessment in Asylum Procedures – A Multidisciplinary Training Manual, 2013, report prepared by the Helsinki Committee in the framework of the CREDO – Improved Credibility Assessment in EU Asylum Procedures).

4. Owing to the risk of abuse of the asylum system and fabricated asylum stories from asylum seekers, who have often been assisted by professional human traffickers deriving profit from the desperate situation of vulnerable individuals, it is legitimate for asylum authorities to submit the account given by asylum seekers to a thorough examination in order to assess the credibility of their statements. In doing so it is important, amongst other things, to ascertain whether the account given by the asylum seeker, in particular concerning the core elements of the motives for seeking asylum, is consistent and coherent.

5. The credibility of the applicant’s motives for seeking asylum was assessed by the Migration Board and subsequently by the Federal Administrative Court. The applicant was interviewed twice by the Migration Board. The Migration Board had the benefit of seeing the applicant in person, which is an important element in assessing the reliability of an asylum seeker’s motives. Furthermore, the applicant was represented by a lawyer before the Federal Administrative Court and had ample opportunity to submit information and observations.

6. In the assessment of the Migration Board, subsequently upheld by the Federal Administrative Court, the applicant’s statement of facts, given during two interviews, was not considered credible owing to inconsistencies and discrepancies. The inconsistencies and discrepancies concerned the applicant’s statements as to (1) who had come to his home after the last demonstration; (2) whether a search of the house had taken place; (3) where the applicant had stayed or hidden after the demonstration and before leaving the country; and (4) who had been arrested during the demonstration. Inconsistencies and discrepancies on such important aspects of the applicant’s asylum story inevitably cast doubt on the credibility of his statements. According to the domestic authorities, the applicant had not given a plausible explanation for the inconsistencies and discrepancies, and there is not, in my view, sufficient basis for overturning the assessment of the domestic authorities. The majority is, in my view, acting as a “fourth instance” in its assessment of the reliability of the applicant’s statements.

7. Furthermore, I find the importance attached to the documents provided by the applicant to the domestic authorities and the Court problematic. It is well known in asylum cases that it is often easy to get hold of forged and fraudulently obtained official documents. This is also the case concerning Iran (see, inter alia , Iran – Country of Origin Information (COI) Report, British Home Office, 26 September 2013, section 30.01 to 30.03). If the account given by an asylum seeker is credible, documents in support of the statement are often of less importance. On the other hand, if the account given by an asylum seeker is clearly unreliable, documents will frequently be incapable of dispelling the doubts concerning its credibility. Therefore, documents are, in general, of particular importance in cases where the question of credibility is more borderline.

8. According to the domestic authorities, the applicant’s account was not credible and the copies of documents presented by the applicant to the domestic authorities could not dispel the doubts concerning his statements. In my view, there is not sufficient basis for overturning the assessment by the domestic authorities on this point either. The applicant only presented copies of the documents in question to the domestic authorities. The explanation given by the applicant for not providing the originals to the domestic authorities is not convincing. Furthermore, the applicant, assisted by a lawyer, did not explain to the domestic authorities how the copies came to be in his possession.

9. The applicant lodged his complaint with the Court on 15 August 2013 and the Court adopted an interim measure (Rule 39) on 12 September 2013. Therefore, from that date onwards the applicant did not risk being expelled. According to the applicant, he received the original documents on 10 October 2013, while his case was pending before the Court. He did not, however, request the reopening of the domestic asylum procedure on the basis of relevant new facts, which would have been possible according to domestic legislation. Instead, the applicant sent the allegedly original documents to the Court, without giving the domestic authorities an opportunity to assess the reliability and relevance of the documents. Having regard to the background information on forged and fraudulently obtained official documents in Iran, the importance attached by the majority to documents that were not assessed by the domestic authorities is a cause for concern.

10. Hence, and having regard to the assessment performed and the reasons given by the domestic authorities as well as the subsidiary role of the Court, including in asylum cases, there is, in my view, not sufficient basis for overturning the assessment of the domestic authorities as regards the credibility of the applicant’s asylum story. Therefore, I voted against finding a violation of Article 3 of the Convention.