Author
When the foreigner lodges a subsequent application, the authority competent to examine the application is the Department for international protection procedure of the Ministry of Interior, the same authority as in the regular procedure. The Department for international protection procedure examines the elements presented in the subsequent application in conjunction with the elements provided in the previous application and/or lawsuit.
The LITP provides a specific procedure for subsequent applications. A subsequent application for international protection is defined as the intention to apply for international protection expressed after a final decision has been taken on a previous application i.e. the previous application was rejected because the conditions were not met for asylum or subsidiary protection; or conditions were met for exclusion; or the application was rejected as manifestly unfounded as the applicant did not meet the conditions for asylum or subsidiary protection or the procedure was discontinued because the applicant withdrew the application.[1]
If a person decides to submit a subsequent application,[2] an explanation of the subsequent application should be submitted to the Reception Centre for Applicants of International Protection directly in writing or orally if the person is illiterate. The Ministry of Interior must decide on the subsequent application no later than within 15 days from the day of receiving it. This subsequent application must be comprehensible and contain the relevant facts and evidence which arose after the finality of the decision or which the applicant for justified reasons did not present during the previous procedure, relating to establishing the conditions for approval of international protection. The admissibility of the subsequent application should be assessed on the basis of the facts and evidence it contains, and in connection with the facts and evidence already used in the previous procedure. If it is established that the subsequent application is admissible, a decision shall be rendered once again on the substance of the application, and the previous decision revoked. The subsequent application should be dismissed if it is established that it is inadmissible. A subsequent application made by a foreigner under transfer shall be considered in the responsible member state of the European Economic Area, but a subsequent application lodged in the Republic of Croatia shall be dismissed as inadmissible.
In practice under the LITP, the interview for lodging the subsequent application can be omitted when the admissibility of a subsequent application is being assessed.[3]
Under the LITP,[4] if the applicant lodges a subsequent application with the intention of postponing or preventing the enforcement of the decision on expulsion from the Republic of Croatia, he or she shall have the right of residence until the decision on the subsequent application becomes final. However, as at the same time LITP prescribes that the Ministry shall render a decision to dismiss a subsequent application if it assesses that it is inadmissible,[5] and that in that case appeal to Administrative Court does not have a suspensive effect,[6] (which means that the decision is final)[7] the above provision means that the right to residence is applicable only during the first instance procedure. However, there is also a possibility for the appeal to contain a request for suspensive effect.[8] If the applicant brings an appeal which contains a request for suspensive effect, he or she shall have the right of residence until the delivery of the judgment on granting suspensive effect.[9]
However, applicants who lodge a new subsequent application after a decision has already been rendered on a previous subsequent application do not have the right of residence in the Republic of Croatia.
If the conditions for the accelerated procedure are met and the subsequent application is admissible, then the Ministry of Interior must render its decision within 2 months period. The deadline for the appeal in that case is then 8 days for the delivery of the first instance decision, however it does not have suspensive effect. Otherwise the 15-day time limit is applicable for the Ministry of Interior to decide on subsequent applications. As in the regular procedure, the Administrative Court is the competent authority for deciding upon appeal. If the subsequent application is dismissed as inadmissible, the deadline is 8 days from the delivery of the first instance decision and does not have suspensive effect.
In 2018, 104 persons lodged subsequent applications, however data from 2019 until the end of 2021 are not available.
Although the total number of subsequent applications that were submitted in 2021 and 2022 is not available, it is known that in 2021, 28 subsequent applications were dismissed as inadmissible;[10] in 2022, the number of subsequent applications deemed inadmissible was 10.[11]
[1] Article 4(1)(13) LITP.
[2] Article 47 LITP.
[3] Article 35(8)(3) LITP.
[4] Article 53(3)-(4) LITP.
[5] Article 43(2) LITP.
[6] Article 51(1)(3) LITP.
[7] Article 4(1)(21) LITP.
[8] Article 51(2) LITP.
[9] Article 53 LITP.
[10] Croatian Law Centre: The Croatian Asylum System In 2021 – National Report, The report was prepared as part of the project “Access to the territory and the asylum system in Croatia – legal support and capacity building” with the financial support of the UNHCR; available in Croatian at: https://bit.ly/3NgBDfc and in English at: https://bit.ly/3NBvVpC.
[11] Croatian Law Centre, The Croatian Asylum System in 2022 – National Report. The report was prepared as part of the project “Legal Assistance and Capacity Building for Access to Territory and Asylum in Croatia“, with financial support of the UNHCR Croatia: available in English at: https://bit.ly/434T7RL.