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1. A third country may only be considered to be a first country of asylum for an applicant where in that country:

(a) the applicant enjoyed effective protection in accordance with the Geneva Convention, as referred to in Article 57(1), or enjoyed effective protection as referred to in Article 57(2), before travelling to the Union, and he or she can still avail himself or herself of that protection;

(b) the applicant’s life and liberty are not threatened on account of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion;

(c) the applicant faces no real risk of serious harm as defined in Article 15 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1347;

(d) the applicant is protected against refoulement in accordance with the Geneva Convention and against removal in violation of the right to protection from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment as laid down in international law.

2. The concept of first country of asylum may only be applied provided that the applicant cannot provide elements justifying why the concept of first country of asylum is not applicable to him or her, in the framework of an individual assessment.

3. A third country may only be considered to be a first country of asylum for an unaccompanied minor where it is not contrary to his or her best interests and where the authorities of Member States have first received from the authorities of the third country in question the assurance that the unaccompanied minor will be taken in charge by those authorities and that he or she will immediately benefit from effective protection as defined in Article 57.

4. Where an application is rejected as inadmissible as a result of the application of the concept of first country of asylum, the determining authority shall:

(a) inform the applicant in accordance with Article 36; and (b) provide him or her with a document informing the authorities of the third country in question, in the language of that country, that the application has not been examined in substance as a consequence of the application of the concept of first country of asylum.

5. Where the third country in question does not readmit the applicant to its territory or does not reply within a time limit set by the competent authority, the applicant shall have access to the procedure in accordance with the basic principles and guarantees provided for in Chapter II and in Section I of Chapter III.