In EU law, human dignity has been used as an overarching interpretive principle,
and is referred to numerously within the RCD.[48] The RCD is interpreted by the
CJEU to ensure that Member States secure appropriate reception conditions in
conformity with this fundamental concept.[49] In this report, this principle
similarly underscores criticism of dehumanising practices within the CCAC
but also as represented by the CCAC. People within the CCAC should be
afforded several procedural safeguards, including accessing legal advice or
counselling.[50] They must also ensure that the conditions do not violate the
prohibition of torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
(Article 3 ECHR). Article 3 is closely bound up with ‘human dignity’, and thus, as a
non-derogable right it is considered one of the most fundamental values
enshrined by the Convention.[51] The Court considers treatment to be
‘inhuman’ when it is premeditated, applied for hours, and causes either "actual
bodily injury or intense physical or mental suffering".[52] Treatment that is
‘degrading’ when it causes an individual to feel humiliated or debased,
"showing a lack of respect for, or diminishing, his or her human dignity, or
arouses feelings of fear, anguish or inferiority capable of breaking an
individual’s moral and physical resistance".[53]
A finding of detention additionally imposes specific guarantees which the Greek
authorities must uphold. The RCD provides that detained applicants of
international protection must receive a written decision, in a language they are
reasonably expected to understand, highlighting the reasons, in fact and in law,
for their detention.[54] Where the decision to detain the applicant is written by
an administrative authority such as the RIS of the CCAC, the decision should be
subject to judicial review.[55] The relevant authority is then obliged to inform
the applicants about their right to appeal and their right to request free legal
assistance and representation.[56] Applicants must be provided "information
which explains the rules applied in the facility and sets out their rights and
obligations in a language which they understand or are reasonably supposed
___
[48] See preamble 11, 18, 25, 35 and Article 20.
[49] Bačić Selanec N and Petrić D. 2021. Migrating with Dignity: Conceptualising Human Dignity
Through EU Migration Law. 17 European Constitutional Law Review 498.
[50] Directive 2013/32/EU on common procedures for granting or withdrawing international
protection (recast), Article 12(3).
[51] ECHR, Article 15(2).
[52] M.S.S. v Belgium and Greece, (GC) [2011] ECHR (Application No 30696/09), para 220.
[53] Ibid.
[54] Article 9(4). See also ECHR, Article 5(2).
[55] Article 9(2). See also ECHR Article 5(3).
[56] Article 9(4).
Page 14
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents