Chapter II, Section V, Article 24 · Regulation (EU) 2024/1348

Contents

Article 24Medical examination#

1.Where the determining authority deems it relevant for the examination of an application for international protection, it shall, subject to the applicant’s consent, request a medical examination of the applicant concerning signs and symptoms that might indicate past persecution or serious harm and be informed of results thereof.

2.In the case of a minor, the medical examination shall only be carried out where the parent, the adult responsible for him or her whether by the law or practice of the Member State concerned, the representative or the person referred to in Article 23(2), point (a), and, where provided for by national law, the applicant, consent.The medical examination shall be free of charge for the applicant and be paid for from public funds.Where applicable, the health and vulnerability checks referred to in Article 12 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1356 may be taken into account for the medical examination referred to in this Article.

3.Where no medical examination is carried out in accordance with paragraph 1, the determining authority shall inform applicants that they may, on their own initiative and at their own cost, arrange for a medical examination concerning signs and symptoms that might indicate past persecution or serious harm.

4.The results of the medical examinations referred to in paragraphs 1 or 3 shall be submitted to the determining authority and to the applicant as soon as possible and shall be assessed by the determining authority along with the other elements of the application.

5.The medical examination shall be the least invasive possible and be performed only by qualified medical professionals. It shall be performed in a way that respects the individual’s dignity.

6.An applicant’s refusal to undergo a medical examination or a decision to undergo a medical examination on his or her own initiative, where such an examination does not take place within a suitable timeframe taking into account the availability of appointments for medical examinations in the Member State responsible, shall not prevent the determining authority from taking a decision on the application for international protection.

Defined terms · 20

Show every defined term

adequate capacity
means the capacity required at any given moment to carry out the asylum border procedure, and the return border procedure established pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2024/1349 or, where applicable, an equivalent return border procedure established under national law;
applicant
means a third-country national or a stateless person who has made an application for international protection in respect of which a final decision has not yet been taken;
applicant in need of special procedural guarantees
means an applicant whose ability to benefit from the rights and comply with the obligations provided for in this Regulation is limited due to individual circumstances, such as specific vulnerabilities;
application
means a request for protection from a Member State made by a third-country national or a stateless person who can be understood to be seeking refugee status or subsidiary protection status;
biometric data
means biometric data as defined in Article 2, point (s), of Regulation (EU) 2024/1358;
determining authority
means any quasi-judicial or administrative body in a Member State responsible for examining applications for international protection and competent to take decisions under the administrative procedure;
examination of an application for international protection
means an examination of the admissibility or the merits of an application for international protection in accordance with this Regulation and Regulation (EU) 2024/1347;
final decision
means a decision on whether or not a third-country national or stateless person is granted refugee status or subsidiary protection status pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2024/1347, including a decision rejecting the application as inadmissible or a decision rejecting an application as implicitly or explicitly withdrawn, which is no longer subject to a remedy under the framework of Chapter V of this Regulation or has become final in accordance with national law, irrespective of whether the applicant has the right to remain in accordance with this Regulation;
international protection
means refugee status or subsidiary protection status;
Member State responsible
means the Member State responsible for the examination of an application in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2024/1351.
minor
means a third-country national or stateless person below the age of 18 years;
person eligible for subsidiary protection
means a third-country national or a stateless person who does not qualify as a refugee but in respect of whom substantial grounds have been shown for believing that that person, if returned to his or her country of origin or, in the case of a stateless person, to his or her country of former habitual residence, would face a real risk of suffering serious harm as defined in Article 15 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1347, and to whom Article 17(1) and (2) of that Regulation does not apply, and is unable or, owing to such risk, unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of that country;
refugee
means a third-country national who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group, is outside the country of nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of that country, or a stateless person who, being outside of the country of former habitual residence for the same reasons as mentioned, is unable or, owing to such fear, unwilling to return to it, and to whom Article 12 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1347 does not apply;
refugee status
means the recognition by a Member State of a third-country national or a stateless person as a refugee in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2024/1347;
remain in the Member State
means to remain on the territory, including at the border or in transit zones, of the Member State in which the application for international protection has been made or is being examined;
stateless person
means a person who is not considered to be a national by any State under the operation of its law;
subsequent application
means a further application for international protection made in any Member State after a final decision has been taken on a previous application, including cases in which the application has been rejected as explicitly or implicitly withdrawn;
subsidiary protection status
means the recognition by a Member State of a third-country national or a stateless person as a person eligible for subsidiary protection in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2024/1347;
unaccompanied minor
means a minor who arrives on the territory of the Member States unaccompanied by an adult responsible for him or her, whether by law or practice of the Member State concerned, and for as long as that minor is not effectively taken into the care of such an adult, including a minor who is left unaccompanied after he or she has entered the territory of the Member States;
withdrawal of international protection
means a decision by a determining authority or a competent court or tribunal to revoke or end, including by refusing to renew, international protection, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2024/1347;