Outside the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg | Julien Warnand/EPA ECJ rules against sexual orientation tests for asylum seekers Psychological tests amount to ‘disproportionate interference’ in private life of asylum seekers, says Europe’s top court.

European authorities cannot use psychological tests as grounds to dismiss asylum claims made by people who say they have fled their country due to their sexual orientation, the European Court of Justice ruled on Thursday.

The court ruling refers to a case in which a Nigerian national, claiming to be fleeing persecution on the grounds of his homosexuality, was denied asylum in Hungary in April 2015 after a psychologist's report commissioned by the authorities failed to confirm his sexual orientation.

According to the ECJ's statement, an expert's report can be commissioned to properly assess an asylum application, as long as procedures are “consistent with the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, such as the right to respect for human dignity and the right to respect for private and family life."

But national authorities and courts cannot "base their decision solely on the conclusions of an expert's report and must not be bound by them," Europe's top court said.

The court added that consent for these psychological tests "is not necessarily given freely" because "it is imposed under the pressure of the circumstances in which an asylum seeker finds himself."

In those circumstances, "the performance of such a test amounts to a disproportionate interference in the private life of the asylum seeker,” the ECJ said, adding that an expert report "is not essential" to determine the credibility of an asylum seeker's statements.

The ECJ ruling will be legally binding in all EU member countries.

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