1. A third-country national or a stateless person shall be excluded from being a refugee where that third-country national or stateless person:
(a) falls within the scope of Article 1(D) of the Geneva Convention, relating to protection or assistance from organs or agencies of the United Nations other than the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; when such protection or assistance has ceased for any reason, without the position of that third-country national or stateless person being definitely settled in accordance with the relevant resolutions adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations, that third-country national or stateless person shall ipso facto be entitled to the benefits of this Regulation;
(b) is recognised by the competent authorities of the country in which third-country national or stateless person has taken up residence as having the rights and obligations which are attached to the possession of the nationality of that country, or equivalent rights and obligations.
2. A third-country national or a stateless person shall be excluded from being a refugee where there are serious reasons for considering that that third-country national or stateless person:
(a) has committed a crime against peace, a war crime or a crime against humanity, as defined in the international instruments drawn up to make provision in respect of such crimes;
(b) has committed a serious non-political crime outside the country of refuge prior to that third-country national or stateless person’s admission as a refugee, which means the time of granting refugee status; particularly cruel actions, even if committed with an allegedly political objective, may be classified as serious non-political crimes;
(c) has been guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations as set out in the Preamble to and Articles 1 and 2 of of the United Nations.
3. Paragraph 2 shall apply to persons who incite or otherwise participate in the commission of the crimes or acts referred to therein.
4. Once the determining authority has established, based on an assessment of the seriousness of the crimes or acts committed by the person concerned and of that person’s individual responsibility, taking into account all the circumstances surrounding those crimes or acts and the situation of that person, that one or more of the relevant exclusion grounds laid down in paragraph 2 or 3 apply, the determining authority shall exclude the applicant from refugee status without performing a proportionality assessment linked to the fear of being persecuted.
5. As part of the assessment referred to in paragraph 4, when carrying out an examination under paragraphs 2 and 3 in relation to a minor, the determining authority shall take into account, inter alia, the minor’s capacity to be considered responsible under criminal law had the minor committed the crime on the territory of the Member State examining the application for international protection in accordance with national law on the age of criminal responsibility.
Correlation Table
| Directive 2011/95/EU | This Regulation |
| Article 12(1) | Article 12(1) |
| Article 12(2), points (a), (b) and (c) | Article 12(2), points (a), (b) and (c) |
| Article 12(3) | Article 12(3) |
| — | Article 12(4) and (5) |