Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 30 April 2025 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Lietuvos vyriausiasis administracinis teismas – Lithuania) – K.L. v Migracijos departamentas prie Lietuvos Respublikos vidaus reikalų ministerijos

(Case C-63/24,  (1) Galte)  (2)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Asylum policy - Refugee status or subsidiary protection status - Directive 2011/95/EU - Article 12(2)(b) - Article 18 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union - Exclusion from being a refugee - Grounds - Commission of a serious non-political crime outside the country of refuge prior to his or her admission as a refugee - Effect of the fact that the sentence has been served)

(C/2025/3250)

Language of the case: Lithuanian

Referring court

Lietuvos vyriausiasis administracinis teismas

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: K.L.

Defendant: Migracijos departamentas prie Lietuvos Respublikos vidaus reikalų ministerijos

Operative part of the judgment

Article 12(2)(b) of Directive 2011/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection, for a uniform status for refugees or for persons eligible for subsidiary protection, and for the content of the protection granted, read in the light of Article 18 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union,

must be interpreted as meaning that, when examining whether the actions of an applicant for international protection who otherwise fulfils the criteria for the grant of refugee status are covered by the ground for exclusion from that status set out in Article 12(2)(b), the competent authorities and, where relevant, the competent courts of the Member State concerned must take account of the fact that that applicant has served the sentence imposed on him or her for the acts he or she committed, but that fact however does not, in itself, prevent that applicant from being excluded from refugee status under that provision.

(1)  OJ C C/2024/3053.

(2)  The name of the present case is a fictitious name. It does not correspond to the real name of any party to the proceedings.