1. Country of Origin Information (COI)
EJTN ADMINISTRATIVE LAW PROJECT
JUDICIAL TRAINING ON EU ASYLUM LAW
Wolfgang Bartsch
Helsinki, 8th. and 9th. of March 2018

2. Background
• Old days: country report Foreign Office and ai: more guessing around than deciding • Recent challenge: to oversee a huge amount of information
and find the case specific bits
• Emerging importance of COI for decision makers

3. Applications January - June 2017 per 1.000 inhabitants

4. Applications Germany 1953 - 2018

5. Appeals Germany

6. Uniqueness of asylum appeals
• Events in far away countries
• Language/Culture
• Assessing a future risk
• Grave consequences
• Limited Evidence
> Narrative of the appellant
> Country of origin information

7. Legal relevance
Legal obligation to consult relevant up to date, unbiased and reliable country information of various sources - common place:
Directives
Qualification Directive 2011/95/EU
Art. 4 (3) (a): assessment of applications includes COI
Art. 8 (2) : internal protection
Procedures Directive 2013/32/EU e.g.
Art. 10 (3) (b): precise and up-to-date COI
Art. 10 (4): COI in appeals
Art. 12 (1) (d): access to applicants/counsel
Art. 31 (8) (e): accelerated procedures
Art. 37 (3): safe country of origin
Art. 45 (2) (a): withdrawal
Proposals for Regulations on Qualification and Procedures

8. Legal relevance EASO Regulation
Art. 4: EASO organise, promote and coordinate activities related to COI
ECJ
C-411/10 and C-493/10
ECtHR
M.S.S. v Belgium and Greece
Sufi and Elmi v. UK
National courts
Germany:
First and second instances have to ascertain the facts ex officio
BVerfG - 2 BvR 2954/09 -: constitutional duty in asylum cases

9. Practical Relevance
Even more important: matter-of-factly no one can reach an informed decision without consulting comprehensive COI - past orientated: checking the applicant's testimony - future orientated: checking risk of persecution or serious harm upon return
general situation in country of origin
applicant’s
credibility
risks upon return
applicants personal circumstances

10. Types of Sources/Forms of Information
International Organisations
Government
NGOs
Media
Academia/Experts
Research Institutes…
Written/Oral
Photos
Films/ V
ideos
Maps/Graphs
Forms of
Information
Social media
Databases
Portals
Not sources but channels to access sources

11. COI in appeals Inquisitorial / adversarial systems
Judges as de facto COI researches
COI research: a profession by its own
COI units serving the asylum authorities/courts?

12. COI in appeals • Shared responsibility • Disclosure
• COI in a foreign language
• Equality of arms
• Authority to request input from state and non state entities
• Taking responsibility

13. https://www. verwaltungsgericht-braunschweig. niedersachsen

14. Quality Standards
Generally recognised quality standards - ACCORD Training Manual - UNHCR paper from Common EU Guidelines for Processing COI - COI Checklist elaborated by the International Association of Refugee Law Judges (IARLJ)
- EASO Country of Origin Information report methodology, July 2012

15. IARLJ Checklist Relevance and adequacy of the Information
i) How relevant is the COI to the case in hand?
ii) Does the COI source adequately cover the relevant issue(s)?
iii) How current or temporally relevant is the COI?
Source of the Information
iv) Is the COI material satisfactorily sourced?
v) Is the COI based on publicly available and accessible sources?
vi) Has the COI been prepared on an empirical basis using sound methodology?
Nature / Type of the Information
vii) Does the COI exhibit impartiality and independence?
viii) Is the COI balanced and not overly selective?
Prior Judicial Scrutiny
ix) Has there been judicial scrutiny by other national courts of the COI in question?

16. Example: Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit
Who ?
Why
What?
How?
Independent research
institute based in Kabul
Donors
Inform and influence policy
and practice
Conducts high -
quality,
policy
relevant research
Actively disseminates the
results
Promotes
a culture of
research and
learning
AREU engages with
policymakers, civil society,
researchers and students to
promote their use of
AREU's research and its
library, to strengthen their
research capacity, and to
create opportunities for
analysis, reflection and
debate.
« About us »
« Publications »
Google: Referenced by many (Google, Ecoi.net)
Cited in other reports
« Research »
What others say

17. Evaluating COI Sufi and Elmi v. UK Objectivity of country reports
Research of the British Immigration Advisory Service 2010
Administrative Court of Lueneburg – 1 A 296/02
UK Upper Tribunal AK and Home Office 14, 15th March 2012 (country guidance case Afghanistan)
Quasi-binding country reports?
Country reports and case specific COI
Judgements as a source for COI

18. Evaluating COI Hierarchy of sources
A general hierarchy of sources cannot be established. At least not in the sense that this means that the sources with the highest rank in such a hierarchy always provide the most reliable information.*
Valued by judges**
Independent sources without a political objective
A source from a group or organisation rather than an individual
Well known, reliable, balanced, sourced and up to date
*Common EU Guidelines for processing Country of Origin Information (April 2008), section
**Natasha Tsangarides, The Refugee Roulette: The Role of Country Information in RSD, January 2010

19. Appropriate use of COI
Independent Chief Inspector of the UK Border Agency
The use of country of origin information in deciding asylum applications: A thematic inspection
October 2010 – May 2011
17% of reasons for refusal letters (12 cases) from our file sample showed either the selective use of country information or unjustified assertions based on the evidence available.
Over 13% of reasons for refusal letters (7 cases) included country information which was, at best, tangential to the issues relevant to the asylum claim.
Citation

20. Availability of COI Access to national/international databases e.g.:
- EU Common COI Portal:
- Immigration and Refugee Board Canada:
- Human rights watch:
- UNHCR:
- ai:
- ecoi net:
- International crisis group:
- UK Border Agency:
- Landinfo Norway: - IARLJ:
- MiLo: Forced Migration: EDAL:
- US State Department:
Professional COI units

21. Web tools

22. EASO - Training

23. Contradicting assessment of COI
Example: Afghanistan

24. Subsidiary Protection for Afghan appellants
COI suggest: situation worsens
Recognition rates decrease
German Courts No real risk of serious harm in Kabul, because the number of civil victims is too low in relation to the number of inhabitants – internal flight alternative for young single men Exemption: individual vulnerability
Swiss Courts Situation in Kabul is live threatening and therefore no internal flight alternative even not for young single men Exemption: especially favourable features like young single man whose social network provides housing and basic assistance .

25. Thank you for your attention
I am looking forward
to your questions

26. Contact