Ordinary Tribunal of Rome, 21 February 2019, X v. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Health

A “way out” of the human rights situation in Libya: the humanitarian visa as a tool to guarantee the rights to health and to family unity

Abstract

In the case X v. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Health the Ordinary Tribunal of Rome ordered the issuing of a visa on humanitarian grounds pursuant to Article 25(1)(a) of the EU Visa Code in favour of a Nigerian unaccompanied minor in Libya who was in urgent need of medical treatment, in this way allowing him to legally and safely travel to Italy, have access to a proper health care and join the mother who was residing there. The Italian judges ruled that, under certain circumstances, the provision of the Visa Code regarding the humanitarian visa may be directly invoked before the domestic jurisdictions and immediately applied, without needing further implementing acts and notwithstanding the possible denial of a visa by the diplomatic authorities. The issuing of the humanitarian visa represents for the minor the “way out” of his situation in Libya and becomes a tool to guarantee the effective protection of the rights to family unity and to health.