Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 9 November 2021 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Bundesverwaltungsgericht – Germany) – LW v Bundesrepublik Deutschland
(Case C-91/20) 1
(Reference for a preliminary ruling – Common policy on asylum and subsidiary protection – Standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection – Directive 2011/95/EU – Articles 3 and 23 – More favourable standards capable of being retained or introduced by the Member States for the purposes of extending the refugee or subsidiary protection status of a beneficiary of international protection to family members – Grant of a parent’s refugee status to his or her minor child as a derived right – Maintaining family unity – Best interests of the child)
Language of the case: German
Referring court
Bundesverwaltungsgericht
Parties to the main proceedings
Applicant: LW
Defendant: Bundesrepublik Deutschland
Operative part of the judgment
Article 3 and Article 23(2) of Directive 2011/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection, for a uniform status for refugees or for persons eligible for subsidiary protection, and for the content of the protection granted must be interpreted as not precluding a Member State from granting, under more favourable national provisions, as a derived right and for the purpose of maintaining family unity, refugee status to the minor child of a third-country national who has been recognised as having that status under the system established by that directive, including in the case where that child was born in the territory of that Member State and, through that child’s other parent, has the nationality of another third country in which he or she would not be at risk of persecution, provided that the child is not caught by a ground for exclusion referred to in Article 12(2) of that directive and that the child is not, through his or her nationality or any other element characterising his or her personal legal status, entitled to better treatment in that Member State than that resulting from the grant of refugee status. It is not relevant in that regard to ascertain whether it is possible and reasonably acceptable for the child and the child’s parents to move to that other third country.
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1 OJ C 209, 22.6.2020.