Federal Administrative Court - Decision 10 C 48.07

Residence Act Section 25 (3), Section 60 (1), (7) Sentence 2 and 3, (11), Section 60a
Directive 2004/83/EC Art. 2 Letter b, Art. 8, 15 Letter c, Art. 17, 18
Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 Art. 3
Additional Protocol I of 8 June 1977 Art. 51
Additional Protocol II of 8 June 1977 Art. 1, 13

Headwords:
Protection from deportation because of internal armed conflict (Iraq); indiscriminate violence; serious and individual threat; substantial individual danger; subsidiary protection; international humanitarian law; matter at issue in protection against deportation under European and German law.

Headnotes:
1. Since the Directive Implementation Act has gone into force, an application for an order to find a prohibition on deportation under Section 60 (2) through (7) of the Residence Act, with reference to the country of origin, can be pertinently interpreted in asylum proceedings to the effect that a finding of a prohibition on deportation under Section 60 (2), (3) or (7) Sentence 2 of the Residence Act is to be sought first, and as an alternative, a finding of a prohibition on deportation is to be sought under Section 60 (5) or (7) Sentence 1 of the Residence Act.

2. The concept of international or internal armed conflict in Section 60 (7) Sentence 2 of the Residence Act and Art. 15 Letter c of Directive 2004/83/EC (known as the 'Qualification Directive') is to be construed taking international humanitarian law into account (see in particular the four Geneva Conventions on International Humanitarian Law of 12 August 1949 and Additional Protocol II of 8 June 1977).

3. An internal armed conflict within the meaning of Section 60 (7) Sentence 2 of the Residence Act and Art. 15 Letter c of Directive 2004/83/EC need not extend to the entire territory of the country.

4. The provision of Section 60 (7) Sentence 3 of the Residence Act, relegating foreigners seeking protection from deportation to suspensions of deportation by order of the foreigners authorities, is to be construed, in keeping with the Directive, as not applying to those cases in which the conditions for granting subsidiary protection under Art. 15 Letter c of Directive 2004/83/EC are met.

Decision of the 10th Division of 24 June 2008 - BVerwG 10 C 43.07 (German Version)