Migrants, on the centres in Albania, the Supreme Court refers to the EU Court

U-turn by the Supreme Court on Gjader centres. The judges asked the EU Court of Justice for clarification on the compatibility of transfers and detentions with EU law. On 8 May, in a previous ruling, the Albanian CPR had been equated with Italian centres. With two preliminary rulings, the judges of Piazza Cavour, referred to the Court of Luxembourg the decision on two appeals of the Viminale against the non-validations of detention decided by the Court of Appeal of Rome.

The Court of Cassation asks the EU Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling on two cases: that of a migrant in an irregular administrative situation and that of an asylum seeker who applied for international protection when he was already detained in the Albanian CPR. The judges of legitimacy asked to assess whether the Return Directive (2008/115/Ce), which concerns third country nationals in an irregular situation, is an obstacle to the application of Law 14/2024, which allows to bring to the CPR in Gjader, under the cooperation protocol between the Italian and Tirana governments, people who are the recipients of validated or extended detention orders, "in the absence of any predetermined and identifiable prospect of return". And in case of a negative answer, the Supreme Court asks to clarify whether the directive on common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection status precludes the application of domestic rules allowing detention in Albania due to the instrumental character of the application for protection. The Supreme Court stays the judgments pending the replies of the Luxembourg judges - who have been asked to give their views under the urgency procedure - on the questions referred for a preliminary ruling.

Satisfied with the Supreme Court's decision - whose motivations will be filed in a few days, while Luxembourg's answers will have to wait months - opposition leaders Bonelli and Magi. For Angelo Bonelli, MP AVS and Co-spokesperson for Green Europe. "The decision of the Court of Cassation to refer cases of unlawful detention to the European Court of Justice confirms what we have always denounced: the agreement with Tirana is contrary to European law, tramples on people's fundamental rights and is a shameful waste of public money".

In the same vein, Riccardo Magi, secretary of Più Europa, says: "The Court of Cassation refers to the European Court of Justice the cases of illegitimate detentions in Albania's CPRs, confirming all the doubts we had expressed from the outset in terms of the legal legitimacy of these inhuman centres. The Albanian CPRs, paid for by Italian taxpayers for almost one billion euro, are not only a political failure by Meloni, since they have hosted very few people so far, but they are also so from a legal point of view: the entire protocol framework is blatantly against European standards and does not respect any humanitarian standards'.