Judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-610/23

PRESS RELEASE No 82/25 Luxembourg, 3 July 2025 Judgment of the Court in Case C-610/23 | [Al Nasiria] 1 International protection: Greek legislation obliging an applicant for international protection to appear in person at the hearing to examine his or her appeal and providing for a presumption that an appeal has been improperly brought in the event of non-compliance with that obligation is contrary to EU law An Iraqi national lodged an application for international protection in Greece, alleging that his life was in danger in his country of origin. He stated that he had been injured by a firearm by a member of the family of a young woman with whom he had been in a romantic relationship, and had been the subject of a tribal decision ordering him to be put to death. His application for international protection was rejected, however, due to insufficient evidence being provided. His appeal against that decision was dismissed by an Independent Appeals Committee as manifestly unfounded. He failed to appear in person before that committee, whilst national legislation establishes a presumption that, where the applicant fails to appear before the body hearing his or her appeal, the appeal has been improperly brought. The Administrative Court of First Instance of Thessaloniki, before which the action against the decision of an Independent Appeals Committee was brought, referred questions to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling. That court seeks to...