CYIL vol. 15 (2024)

LENKA SCHEU, ANŽELIKA BANEVIČIENĖ 1. Introduction

A significant number of (unaccompanied) minors enter the European Union every year. The term “unaccompanied minors” refers to non-EU nationals or stateless persons under the age of 18 who arrive in an EU country unaccompanied by a responsible adult or who are left unaccompanied after entering an EU country. Unaccompanied minors have more favourable treatment in EU law 1 compared to adult migrants because they are considered more vulnerable than other migrants. 2 Not all unaccompanied minors who enter an EU Member State territory have a document proving their identity and age, and it is not always clear whether the age information provided by a migrant (asylum seeker) is correct. Therefore, an age assessment plays a crucial role in ensuring the protection of unaccompanied minors in asylum proceedings. The paper analyses the importance of age assessments from the perspective of EU, Lithuanian, and Czech laws and analyses relevant Lithuanian and Czech court practices related to age assessment. The Article aims to present the legal regulations for determining the age of migrants in Lithuania and the Czech Republic, highlight the differences, and discuss the relevant case law of national courts. Determination of the age of migrants is particularly relevant in the individual moments of the asylum procedure, placement of foreigners in special facilities for foreigners, and cases of deportation of irregular migrants. The importance of determining age lies in the fact that, under international and national law, unaccompanied children are entitled to more favourable treatment, such as child-friendly accommodation in the receiving state or the right to education. The subject of this Article is not the asylum procedure as such, nor is it the institution of detention of aliens, which is the subject of several pieces of legislation mentioned in this paper and academic publications. 3 Children are also subject to more favourable rules for determining the country responsible for examining an application for international protection. According to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), it is important not to prolong the procedure for determining the member state responsible beyond what is strictly necessary, which means that, in principle, they will not be transferred to another member state, 4 given that unaccompanied minors constitute a category of particularly vulnerable persons. 5 The lack of identification of migrant minors may lead to the implementation of unjustified restrictions and denial of the right to special treatment in the receiving state and do not ensure the protection of the rights of this vulnerable group. 1 See e.g., 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 (recast), OJ L 337, 20. 12. 2011, pp. 9–26, para (f). 2 For a general overview of the rights of unaccompanied children, see LEITÃO, Sofia a VISSING, Yvonne Marie. T he rights of unaccompanied minors: perspectives and case studies on migrant children . Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2021. 3 See e.g., COSTELLO, Cathryn / MOUZOURAKIS, Minos. EU Law and the Detainability of Asylum-Seekers. Refugee survey quarterly . 2016, 35 (1), 47–73. 4 SCHEU, Harald Christian. The Dublin System from a European Human Rights Perspective. Czech Yearbook of Public and Private International Law, 2012, Vol. 3, 87–105. 5 Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber), 6 June 2013. The Queen, on the application of MA and Others v Secretary of State for the Home Department .; Constitutional Court ruling, II. ÚS 428/21, N 126/107 SbNU 8.

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