Waver v State Secretary for Justice

• Jurisdiction: Holanda
• Judgment Date: 09 August 1972
• Court: Royal Decree (Netherlands)
• Date: 09 August 1972

The Netherlands, Royal Decree (Administrative Decision).

Waver

and

State Secretary of Justice

The individual in international law Miscellaneous Refugees Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees, 1951 Article 1(A)(2) Definition of Refugee Naval deserter Conscientious objector Attempt to avoid being handed over to national state by application for refugee status Test of whether any well-founded fear of persecution because of political opinions The law of the Netherlands

Summary: The facts:On 26 June 1970 Waver deserted from the U.S.S. Marias, an American naval vessel, at that time stationed in the port of Rotterdam. Waver stayed in the Netherlands until 21 July 1970 and then went to Sweden. He came back to the Netherlands on 29 August 1970. On 5 and 27 May 1971 the American military authorities requested that he be detained and handed over. In his efforts to avoid being handed over to the U.S. authorities1 under the NATO Status of Forces Agreement 1951, Waver applied for admittance as a refugee under Article 15 of the Dutch Aliens Act 1965.2 Both his original application and his request for revision of the unfavourable decision on his application were rejected on 2 July 1971 and 30 August 1971 respectively. Thereupon Waver appealed to the Crown.

Held:The appeal was dismissed. Waver could not be considered to be an alien originating from a country in which he had a well-founded fear of persecution on the grounds of his political opinions. Prosecution for desertion from the armed forces did...