Accelerated asylum procedures in Council of Europe member States

Recommendation 1727 (2005)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Assembly debate on 7 October 2005 (32nd Sitting) (see Doc. 10655, report of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population, rapporteur : Mr Agramunt). Text adopted by the Assembly on 7 October 2005 (32nd Sitting).

Thesaurus

1. The Parliamentary Assembly refers to its Resolution 1471 (2005) on accelerated asylum procedures in Council of Europe member states.

2. The Assembly considers that there is an urgent need to develop general guidelines which go beyond the minimal standards developed in the amended proposal for a European Council directive on minimum standards on procedures in member states for granting and withdrawing refugee status.

3. Therefore, the Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers :

3.1 ask the relevant intergovernmental committee to work out, in co-operation with relevant bodies, policy guidelines and best practices for dealing with accelerated procedures. Or, in view of the extensive nature of accelerated procedures, to prioritise work by examining and developing policy guidelines and best practices in the following fields :

3.1.1 the use of the concept of safe country of origin ;

3.1.2 the use of the concept of safe third country, including the concept of “super safe third country” ;

3.1.3 procedures adopted for dealing with asylum seekers at border-points ;

3.1.4 rights of appeal, including the suspensive effect of appeals ;

3.2 to expand Council of Europe training initiatives for those involved in refugee status determination in general, and those involved in accelerated procedures in particular, ensuring :

3.2.1 close co-operation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in all training programmes ;

3.2.2 that full account is taken of the international human rights standards of the Council of Europe, notably the European Convention on Human Rights and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights relevant to refugee status determination ;

3.2.3 that full use is made of information relevant for the refugee status determination process arising from monitoring mechanisms of the Council of Europe, such as those established by the European Social Charter, the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the monitoring reports of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI).