CRPD/C/18/D/28/2015
should emerge after an expulsion order has become final. It also argues that the cases of the
author and his family were thoroughly examined by both the Migration Agency and the
migration courts which are specialized bodies with particular expertise in the field of
asylum law and practice. The State party further notes that there is nothing to indicate that
the author’s son has been discriminated against on grounds of his disability in the course of
the proceedings. It also notes that, while residing in Sweden, the author’s son has access to
childcare and health care on an equal basis as other children residing in Sweden, including
access to special support and care owing to his health status. The State party submits that
there is therefore no reason to conclude that the outcome of the domestic proceedings was
in any way arbitrary or amounted to a denial of justice. The State party also submits that the
author’s claims under articles 3, 4, 5, 7, 12, 13, 24, 25, 26 and 28 of the Convention should
be declared inadmissible for lack of substantiation.
6.12 The State party notes the author’s claim that the deportation of his son to Nigeria
would subject him to inhuman treatment as he will not have access to the same care,
support, education and training as he does in Sweden. The State party refers to the
jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights in cases concerning the expulsion of
persons who are ill, in which the Court has consistently held that contracting States have
the right to control the entry, residence and expulsion of aliens. However, in exercising
their rights in this respect, contracting States must have regard to article 3 of the European
Convention.6 It also notes that the Court has found that the assessment of the minimum
level of severity which must be attained in order for ill-treatment to fall within the scope of
article 3 of the European Convention is relative and depends on all the circumstances of the
case, such as the nature and context of the treatment, the manner and method of its
execution, its duration, its physical or mental effects and, in some instances, the sex, age
and state of health of the person concerned.7 The State party refers to the Court’s Grand
Chamber judgment in the case of N. v. United Kingdom,8 in which the Court held that the
fact that an applicant’s circumstances, including his life expectancy, would be significantly
reduced if he were to be removed from the contracting State is not sufficient in itself to give
rise to a breach of article 3 of the European Convention. The decision to remove an alien
who is suffering from a serious mental or physical illness to a country where the facilities
for the treatment of that illness are inferior to those available in the contracting State may
raise an issue under article 3, but only in exceptional cases, where the humanitarian grounds
against the removal are compelling. The Court also held that aliens who are subject to
expulsion cannot, in principle, claim any entitlement to remain in the territory of a
contracting State in order to continue to benefit from medical, social or other forms of
assistance and services provided by that State. The Court noted that advances in medical
science, together with social and economic differences between countries, entail that the
level of treatment available in the contracting State and the country of origin may vary
considerably and that while it is necessary for the Court to retain a degree of flexibility to
prevent expulsion in very exceptional cases, article 3 does not place an obligation on the
contracting State to alleviate such disparities through the provision of free and unlimited
health care to all aliens without a right to stay within its jurisdiction. 9 In the case of S.H.H. v.
United Kingdom, 10 the Court found that the high threshold is applicable even when
interpreting article 3 of the European Convention in conjunction with the Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The State party considers that a similarly high threshold
as that set by article 3 of the European Convention should apply to claims under article 15
of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
6
7
8
9
10
See European Court of Human Rights, Bensaid v. the United Kingdom, application No. 44599/98,
judgment of 6 February 2001, para. 32.
Ibid., Cruz Varas and others v. Sweden, application No. 15576/89, judgment of 20 March 1991.
Ibid., N. v. the United Kingdom, application No. 26565/05, judgment of 27 May 2008, para. 29.
Ibid., Bensaid v. the United Kingdom; Aoulmi v. France, application No. 50278/99, judgment of 17
January 2006; S.H.H. v. United Kingdom, application No. 60367/10, decision of 29 January 2013; and
Senchishak v. Finland, application No. 5049/12, decision of 18 November 2014.
See S.H.H. v. United Kingdom.
9