The European Court of Justice ruled that, according to the press release, “[h]omosexual applicants for asylum can constitute a particular social group who may be persecuted on account of their sexual orientation.”  According to European Council Directive 2004/83/EC, a refugee is anyone who “owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.”  Three nationals of Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Senegal had sought refugee status in the Netherlands—claiming a well-founded fear of being persecuted in their countries of origin because of their sexual orientation—and the Dutch Raad van State (Council of State) had asked the Court of Justice about the assessment of applications for refugee status under the provision of the Directive.  The Court held that not all violations of the fundamental rights of a homosexual applicant for asylum will necessarily reach the sufficient level of seriousness to constitute persecution, though “a term of imprisonment which accompanies a legislative provision which punishes homosexual acts may constitute an act of persecution per se, provided that it is actually applied.”