COMMON ANALYSIS
Last update: June 2025
This chapter addresses the EU-regulated status of subsidiary protection. Where the applicant has not been found to qualify as a refugee, they may be eligible for subsidiary protection in accordance with Article 15 QD/QR.
The contents of this chapter include:
- the section on Article 15(a) QD/QR: death penalty or execution.
- the section on Article 15(b) QD/QR: torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
- the section on Article 15(c) QD/QR: indiscriminate violence in situations of armed conflict.
Please note that the CJEU has ruled on the importance of the individual circumstances to be taken into account while determining if an applicant is eligible for subsidary protection, before identifying the type of serious harm, notably(18):
'1. Article 15 of Directive 2011/95/EU (...) must be interpreted as meaning that in order to determine whether an applicant for international protection is eligible for subsidiary protection, the competent national authority must examine all the relevant factors, relating both to the individual position and personal circumstances of the applicant and to the general situation in the country of origin, before identifying the type of serious harm that those factors may potentially substantiate.'
For further information on the individual circumstances which may be relevant to consider in the assessment of a real risk of serious harm, please consult 'Country Guidance: Explained, February 2025'.
- 18
CJEU, X and Y v Staatssecretaris van Veiligheid en Justitie, C-125/22, Fourth Chamber, judgment of 9 November 2023, operative part (Court's ruling), https://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=279488&pageIndex=0&doclang=en&mode=lst&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=7856939