74
M.S.S. v. BELGIUM AND GREECE JUDGMENT
The form the Aliens Office filled in contains no section for such comments
(see paragraph 130 above).
352. In these conditions, the Court considers that the general situation
was known to the Belgian authorities and that the applicant should not be
expected to bear the entire burden of proof. On the contrary, it considers it
established that in spite of the few examples of application of the
sovereignty clause produced by the Government, which, incidentally, do not
concern Greece, the Aliens Office systematically applied the Dublin
Regulation to transfer people to Greece without so much as considering the
possibility of making an exception.
353. The Belgian Government argued that in any event they had sought
sufficient assurances from the Greek authorities that the applicant faced no
risk of treatment contrary to the Convention in Greece. In that connection,
the Court observes that the existence of domestic laws and accession to
international treaties guaranteeing respect for fundamental rights in
principle are not in themselves sufficient to ensure adequate protection
against the risk of ill-treatment where, as in the present case, reliable
sources have reported practices resorted to or tolerated by the authorities
which are manifestly contrary to the principles of the Convention (see,
mutatis mutandis, Saadi v. Italy [GC], no. 37201/06, § 147, ECHR 2008).
354. The Court is also of the opinion that the diplomatic assurances
given by Greece to the Belgian authorities did not amount to a sufficient
guarantee. It notes first of all that the agreement to take responsibility in
application of the Dublin Regulation was sent by the Greek authorities after
the order to leave the country had been issued, and that the expulsion order
had therefore been issued solely on the basis of a tacit agreement by the
Greek authorities. Secondly, it notes that the agreement document was
worded in stereotyped terms (see paragraph 24 above) and contained no
guarantee concerning the applicant in person. Nor did the information
document the Belgian Government mentioned, provided by the Greek
authorities, contain any individual guarantee; it merely referred to the
applicable legislation, with no relevant information about the situation in
practice.
355. The Court next rejects the Government’s argument that the Court
itself had not considered it necessary to indicate an interim measure under
Rule 39 of the Rules of Court to suspend the applicant’s transfer. It
reiterates that in cases such as this, where the applicant’s expulsion is
imminent at the time when the matter is brought to the Court’s attention, it
must take an urgent decision. The measure indicated will be a protective
measure which on no account prejudges the examination of the application
under Article 34 of the Convention. At this stage, when an interim measure
is indicated, it is not for the Court to analyse the case in depth – and indeed
it will often not have all the information it needs to do so (see, mutatis
mutandis, Paladi v. Moldova [GC], no. 39806/05, § 89, 10 March 2009). In
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