What with close suggestions with target question being closed?

Question

I'm encountering the questions that were flagged as duplicate, or have such close vote, but the destination question is already closed.

I'm not sure what to do with such questions. For me, closing the question as duplicate of closed question makes no sense, because if target question was so bad that it had to be closed, why to redirect anyone to that question?

I think that if both questions are very similar, the second should be closed for same reason as original, especially when both are downvoted. However, when the questions is upvoted, it shouldn't be closed as duplicate of closed (or downvoted) question. If something is better than original, it is logical to assume it is not a duplicate.

However, I might be missing some important points for closing question as duplicate of closed question. Because the lack of consequence can be very disturbing for the OPs, I ask it here: What are the standards of handling such questions? Should they be closed, and if so, for what reason? Duplicate or something else?

Answer 1

So... Vote your conscience then. Just because the duplicate vote put the question up for review doesn't mean you have to vote the same way. You can vote to close it for a different reason, vote to leave it open, or edit it (which is implicitly a vote to leave it open) (ok, neither Leave Open or Edit are exactly votes, but let's not split hairs...)

Point being, as a reviewer you're trusted to examine the situation and decide what outcome is best - for the site and for those involved with the question being reviewed. You're under no obligation to agree with anyone else - if you believe strongly in a given outcome, then let your review reflect that.

See also: Should users be closing questions as duplicates of closed NARQs?