Subsidiary protection under European law
Subsidiary protection under European law entails bans on deportation which emerge from Art. 15 of the Qualification Directive. They cover three cases:
Torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
This is conditional on there being a danger of torture or of any other inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The underlying statutory provision corresponds with the wording of Art. 3 of the "Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms", to which its interpretation is also orientated. The relevant case-law of the European Court of Human Rights is also taken on board here.
Danger of sentencing to or enforcement of capital punishment
"Capital punishment" is defined as intentional killing by means of which a court-imposed death sentence is enforced for a crime which is threatened by law with the death penalty. There must be a danger here of the death penalty being enforced or handed down.
Considerable individual danger to life and limb in the context of an international or domestic armed conflict
A ban on deportation applies if, as a civilian, the applicant is threatened by arbitrary violence to life and limb entailing considerable individual endangerment which exists in his/her home country because of an international or domestic armed conflict. It must be ruled out here that the applicant can travel to other parts of the country as an alternative. The existence of a conflict by itself is not sufficient to grant protection. There must be an extraordinary situation where the degree of danger is so high that virtually any civilian would be subject to a serious individual threat solely because of their presence in the territory in question. Circumstances exacerbating the danger lying in the identity of the person concerned may lead to protection being granted in individual cases although the degree of risk required has not yet been reached.
