100 M.S.S. v. BELGIUM AND GREECE JUDGMENT – SEPARATE OPINIONS PARTLY CONCURRING AND PARTLY DISSENTING OPINION OF JUDGE SAJÓ I welcome most of the expected consequences of this judgment, namely the hoped-for improvements in the management of asylum proceedings under the Dublin system. It is therefore to my sincere regret that I have to dissent on a number of points. My disagreements are partly of a technical nature. While I agree with the finding that Article 13 was violated as no effective remedy was available in Greece against a potential violation of Article 3, I find that the applicant cannot be regarded a victim in the sense of Article 34 of the Convention as far as the conditions of his stay in Greece are concerned, and also with regard to the deficiencies in the asylum procedure there. I agree with the Court that there was a violation regarding the conditions of his detention, but on slightly different grounds. I dissent as to the finding that Belgium is in violation of Article 3 of the Convention for returning the applicant into detention in Greece. I. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 3 OF THE CONVENTION BY GREECE BECAUSE OF THE CONDITIONS OF THE APPLICANT’S DETENTION I agree with the Court that the conditions of the applicant’s detention at the Athens International Airport detention centre amount to inhuman and degrading treatment, notwithstanding the doubts that remain as to the actual conditions of his detention. There seem to be important differences between the different sectors of the Athens International Airport detention centre, and the actual conditions at the time of the applicant’s two periods of detention may have varied. It may well be that at least one of the sectors did satisfy minimum requirements. I am reluctant to ground a finding of inhuman and degrading treatment because of detention conditions on information relating to conditions at other premises or at times other than the material one. However, the insufficiency of the conditions of detention of migrants and asylum-seekers in Greece has been repeatedly established by the Court in a number of cases (see paragraph 222 of the judgment), and the shortcomings of the Athens International Airport detention centre were reported by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). In such circumstances, the Greek Government should have provided convincing evidence about the conditions of the applicant’s actual detention. However, the Government failed to provide the Court with reliable information as to which sector the applicant was actually held in (cf. paragraph 228). Given the above-mentioned legitimate suspicion, the absence of appropriate documentation becomes decisive, even if the detention was of short

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