Judgment_paragraph 40 · WS v Intervyuirasht organ na Darzhavna agentsia za bezhantsite pri Ministerskia savet (C-621/21)

40As regards, in particular, the reason relating to ‘membership of a particular social group’, it is apparent from the first subparagraph of Article 10(1)(d) that a group is to be considered a ‘particular social group’ where two cumulative conditions are satisfied. First, the members of the relevant group must share at least one of the three following identifying features, namely an ‘innate characteristic’, a ‘common background that cannot be changed’ or a ‘characteristic or belief that is so fundamental to identity or conscience that a person should not be forced to renounce it’. Second, that group must have a ‘distinct identity’ in the country of origin ‘because it is perceived as being different by the surrounding society’.