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3: The Use of Expert Evidence in Asylum Procedures

Summary of the impact

Since the mid 1990s, Social Anthropology staff have provided expert advice as part of UK asylum procedures. Impact has taken two main forms:

  • Shaping lawyers' arguments and informing individual decision-making by the UK Border Agency and Asylum Tribunals, and by immigration authorities in the US, France, and Canada, through the provision of `expert country evidence' on the socio-political circumstances in specific countries (Zimbabwe, Israel/Palestine, Sri Lanka),
  • Shaping professional practice through providing guidance and/or training for immigration practitioners and judges on the general limits and potentials of expert evidence, helping practitioners to adapt their evidential strategies in asylum claims and allowing rival protagonists in adversarial hearings to discuss mutual concerns.

Submitting Institution

University of Edinburgh

Unit of Assessment

Anthropology and Development Studies

Summary Impact Type

Legal

Research Subject Area(s)

Law and Legal Studies: Law

Informing the law and practice governing asylum procedures in the European Union

Summary of the impact

Of the over 300,000 applicants seeking asylum in the European Union each year, 85% enter the EU through Greece. A landmark legal case relied on EU-wide research, the UK component of which was led by University of Glasgow, to show that Greece was not implementing minimum EU standards in processing asylum claims. The research and the Judges' finding challenged the assumption, made by the UK and other states, that asylum applications were treated in an equivalent manner across the EU and the requirement, based on that assumption, that applicants make their claim only in the country through which they entered the EU. The findings and the legal action shaped widespread calls for asylum reform in Europe, leading to an `Action Plan on Greece' from the EC's European Asylum Support Office.

Submitting Institution

University of Glasgow

Unit of Assessment

Law

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Law and Legal Studies: Law, Other Law and Legal Studies

Administrative Justice and Asylum Appeals

Summary of the impact

This case study covers two research projects undertaken at the University of Manchester (UoM) which had unprecedented access to the immigration appeals system, both impacting on asylum policy. The first project focused on family visitor appeals and showed that the introduction of a fee was not a significant deterrent to accessing the appeals process. The second project on asylum appeals made a number of recommendations concerning the handling of appeals by the Tribunal, and the reporting of its decisions.

The research on family visitor appeals was the basis for a Ministry of Justice consultation paper in 2010, and was directly cited by the government when introducing fees for immigration appeals. The research on asylum appeals has influenced policy and thinking within the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber), with particular regard to the Tribunal's management of its country guidance system. More recently, following a presentation of this research to Tribunal members, a new `Guidance Note' on the reporting of cases was produced.

Submitting Institution

University of Manchester

Unit of Assessment

Law

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Law and Legal Studies: Law

Using multimedia to enrich public and specialist perceptions of immigration detention

Summary of the impact

The multi-media exhibition and publication Border Country (2007-2010 and 2007) by photographer Melanie Friend, with its research focus on the experience of asylum-seekers at the point of their incarceration in UK Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs), have contributed to national and international public understanding of standards of well-being and human rights in relation to asylum detention, challenging assumptions about national detention practices and their impact on individual detainees. It has also informed campaigning materials and training sessions for immigration centre visitors and lawyers working with immigrants and detainees. Border Country's impact is on-going: its images and text continue to be shown six years after the first exhibition.

Submitting Institution

University of Sussex

Unit of Assessment

Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management 

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Demography
Law and Legal Studies: Law
Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies

Changing the practice of organisations that work with vulnerable asylum seekers and refugees

Summary of the impact

Essex research on understanding the vulnerability of displaced persons has changed the practice of organisations that work with asylum seekers and refugees. Professor Renos Papadopoulos' research has focused on the resilience and strengths of the individual, rather than seeing him/her as a passive `victim'. This approach has informed two instruments that are used to assess vulnerability: the Trauma Grid and ASPIS. These instruments have been adopted by a number of organisations throughout the world and Papadopoulos has produced a training manual and provided training programmes for frontline and management staff. The examples provided here document his work with organisations based in the UK, Greece, Colombia and Sudan.

Submitting Institution

University of Essex

Unit of Assessment

Sociology

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services

Establishing the Right to be Granted Asylum in EU Law

Summary of the impact

The research has changed the conceptualisation among policy-makers and practitioners of the nature of the right to asylum (from a right of states to grant it to a right of individuals to receive it). The research has led to a change in the law and policy of the United Nations and of the European Union in this field. According to UN data, an estimated 441,300 asylum claims were lodged in industrialised countries in 2011, representing an increase of 20% in relation to the previous year. In 2012 more than 45.2 million people were in situations of forced displacement, the highest figure in the last 18 years. Hence, the reach of the impact is global and its significance lies in strengthening human rights protection in situations of forced displacement.

Submitting Institution

Newcastle University

Unit of Assessment

Law

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Political Science
Law and Legal Studies: Law

Reducing age disputes and improving the process of age assessment for separated asylum-seeking children in the UK, Europe and beyond

Summary of the impact

The research was undertaken in response to growing concerns about the impact of age disputes on the protection and welfare of separated asylum-seeking children. It identified considerable procedural variations in the assessment of age and an over-reliance on physical appearance and medical techniques with wide margins of error. The research has led to a significant reduction in the number of age disputes in the UK through improvements to professional standards, guidelines and training for lawyers and social workers, and has informed policy and practice relating to procedures for the assessment of age in the UK, Europe and Australia.

Submitting Institution

Swansea University

Unit of Assessment

Geography, Environmental Studies and Archaeology

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Studies In Human Society: Demography

More equitable and humane asylum policies in the European Union

Summary of the impact

Dr Eiko Thielemann is Director of the LSE's Migration Studies Unit (MSU). His research into asylum policy in the EU has shown that certain key policies have undermined efforts to share responsibility for the over six million asylum seekers that have entered Europe over the past two decades. MSU's policy recommendations and Thielemann's involvement in the policymaking process have helped shift the debate away from an over-reliance on EU policy harmonisation towards the adoption of new burden-sharing instruments. By providing robust analysis in an emotive policy area, the MSU's research has contributed to the development of more equitable and effective policies that have helped some of the world's most vulnerable individuals to find protection from persecution.

Submitting Institution

London School of Economics & Political Science

Unit of Assessment

Politics and International Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Economics: Applied Economics
Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration
Law and Legal Studies: Law

Asylum determination guidance

Summary of the impact

A series of projects which examined judicial reception of evidence and enabled development and uptake of guides for best practice in asylum determination has contributed to international good practice in a field where it is difficult to ensure objective and fair decision making. The projects included analysis of: gender guidelines; medical evidence; Country of Origin Information (COI); and best practice where children are subject to the asylum process, including COI and evidence relating to age assessment. The research has stimulated and contributed to debate among practitioners. Further, medical evidence guidelines proposed by the research team have been adopted by the International Association of Refugee Law Judges (IARLJ) affecting judicial activity internationally. In addition, research into reception of evidence surrounding COI led to a position on an Advisory Board and development of a further best practice guide.

Submitting Institution

Robert Gordon University

Unit of Assessment

Law

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Law and Legal Studies: Law

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