FRONTIER EUROPE Human rights abuses on Greece’s border with Turkey 31 17 Article 19(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (the Charter) prohibits collective expulsions (push-backs). Explanations on the Charter published in the Official Journal of the European Union on December 2007 state that the purpose of the Article “is to guarantee that every [expulsion] decision is based on a specific examination.” The explanations further add that Article 19(1) has “the same meaning and scope as Article 4 of Protocol No 4 to the ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights) concerning collective expulsion.” The European Court of Human Rights case law provides detailed guidance on how the Article 4 of Protocol 4 should be interpreted. See for example, Hirsi Jamaa and others v. Italy (Application no. 27765/09). Despite not having signed the Protocol 4, Greece is still bound by the prohibition of collective expulsions through the Charter. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of The European Union (2000/C 364/01) is available at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/charter/pdf/text_en.pdf and the explanations relating to the Charter of Fundamental Rights (14.12.2007) are available at: http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2007:303:0017:0035:EN:PDF. According to a study published by the Directorate General for Internal Policies of the European Parliament, Article 19(1) of the Charter obliges states to “ensure that in fact in every expulsion decision the individual concerned has a real opportunity to be represented and put forward his or her arguments against expulsion before any decision is taken.” The study further states that the same standard should apply “to persons who are irregularly on the territory or indeed those who have recently arrived and are still at or near the border.” European Parliament, Policy Department C: Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs, Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, Implementation of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and its Impact on EU Home Affairs Agencies Frontex, Europol and the European Asylum Support Office, August 2011, page 54, available at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2009_2014/documents/libe/dv/02_study_fundamen tal_rights_/02_study_fundamental_rights_en.pdf Charter’s provisions on collective expulsion (Article 19) as well as other fundamental rights (such as Article 18 on the right to asylum and the Article 47 on the right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial) would be invoked when Greece acts within the scope of the EU law. See for example, Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union, Åklagaren v Hans Åkerberg Fransson, Case C-617/10, 26 February 2013, Paragraph 21. With regards to push-backs in the Evros region and the Aegean sea, the applicable EU law could, for example, include the 2011 Qualifications Directive (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), the 2005 Asylum Procedures Directive (Council Directive 2005/85/EC of 1 December 2005 on minimum standards on procedures in member states for granting and withdrawing refugee status), and the 2006 Schengen Borders Code (Regulation (EC) No 562/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2006 establishing a Community Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders). See for example, UN General Assembly, Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 28 July 1951, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 189, p. 176, Article 33(1), available at: 18 Index: 25/008/2013 Amnesty International July 2013