Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber) of 6 June 2013 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Court of Appeal (England and Wales) (Civil Division) – United Kingdom) – The Queen, on the application of: MA, BT, DA v Secretary of State for the Home Department
(Case C-648/11) 1
(Regulation (EC) No 343/2003 – Determining the Member State responsible – Unaccompanied minor – Successive applications for asylum lodged in two Member States – Absence of a member of the family of the minor in the territory of a Member State – Second paragraph of Article 6 of Regulation No 343/2003 – Transfer of the minor to the Member State in which he lodged his first application – Compatibility – Child’s best interests – Article 24(2) of the Charter)
Language of the case: English
Referring court
Court of Appeal (England and Wales) (Civil Division)
Parties to the main proceedings
Applicant: The Queen, on the application of: MA, BT, DA
Defendant: Secretary of State for the Home Department
Intervener: The AIRE Centre (Advice on Individual Rights in Europe) (UK)
Re:
Request for a preliminary ruling – Court of Appeal (England and Wales) (Civil Division) – Interpretation of the second paragraph of Article 6 of Council Regulation (EC) No 343/2003 of 18 February 2003 establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an asylum application lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country national (OJ 2003 L 50, p. 1) – Procedure for determining the Member State responsible for examining asylum applications lodged by unaccompanied minors who are third-country nationals
Operative part of the judgment
The second paragraph of Article 6 of Council Regulation (EC) No 343/2003 of 18 February 2003 establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an asylum application lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country national must be interpreted as meaning that, in circumstances such as those of the main proceedings, where an unaccompanied minor with no member of his family legally present in the territory of a Member State has lodged asylum applications in more than one Member State, the Member State in which that minor is present after having lodged an asylum application there is to be designated the ‘Member State responsible’.
____________1 OJ C 65, 3.3.2012.