Course of administrative proceedings for granting international protection
The administrative proceedings for granting international protection are conducted by the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic (hereinafter the “Ministry”) as the first instance authority. The commencement of the administrative proceedings for granting international protection pursuant to the Asylum Act is bound to an officially recorded written or oral declaration made by the alien from which the alien’s intention to apply for international protection is obvious, i.e., “declaration on international protection”.
This declaration must be made in the territory of the Czech Republic (thus it cannot be made through a consulate or embassy). It must be made to the Alien Police at one of the locations designated by the Asylum Act, specifically at a border crossing, reception centre, Alien Police regional headquarters (under the condition that the alien appears voluntarily), or alien detention centre (with the exception of an alien detained for extradition or transit according to an international agreement or legal regulation of the European Communities). An exception is made for an alien who is hospitalised at a medical facility, in custody or serving a prison sentence. In these cases, the declaration of intention to apply for international protection can be made directly to the Ministry.
Once the declaration of intent to apply for international protection has been made, the alien is obligated to appear at the reception centre within a period of twenty-four hours, where he/she will subsequently file an application for international protection. An exception is only possible in cases wherein the alien cannot appear at the reception centre for objective reasons (hospitalisation, imprisonment). In these cases, a Ministry employee will visit the alien at the place he/she is located for the purpose of preparing the application for international protection as well as performing any other applicable tasks at that site. The alien is required to appear at the reception centre within a period of twenty-four hours immediately after he/she is released from the hospital, prison or custody.
An alien who has made a declaration of intention to apply for international protection is specifically required to undergo fingerprinting and be photographed at the reception centre for the purposes of verifying the alien’s identity. Fingerprints are taken by the police. The ministry ensures that a photograph is taken. Further, the alien is obligated to surrender his travel document and undergo a physical examination as a well as an examination of his/her personal items if there is any justifiable suspicion that the alien is concealing anything that could be used for issuing a decision, namely a travel or other document, any item that could threaten human life or health, alcohol or any other addictive substances, or electronic communications equipment. The alien will also undergo a medical examination for the purpose of determining if he/she suffers from any disease that could pose a threat to his/her life or health or the life or health of any other persons.
Once all required processes have been completed, the applicant for international protection is relocated to an accommodation centre, where he/she awaits the decision of the first instance.
The Ministry can also decide that the applicant is obligated to stay at the reception centre for a period of up to 120 days even after all of the above-specified measures have been completed, especially if the alien’s identity could not be reliably determined (i.e., he/she does not have a valid travel document or holds a forged identity document) or if the alien presents a threat to state security. The applicant has the right to file a court action against this decision during the timeframe.
The application for international protection, a sample of which is included as an annex to the Asylum Act and which the alien completes with a Ministry employee, defines the reasons that lead the alien to leave the last country of his/her residence as well as factual data about the alien and his/her family. Subsequently, within the framework of the procedure for granting international protection, one or more interviews are conducted with the applicant, during which he/she has the opportunity to define the reasons that led him/her to leave his/her last country of residence and apply for international protection in the Czech Republic in more detail. In justified cases or on the basis of an explicit request, the Asylum and Migration Policy Department of the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic (AMPD MI CR) will make the arrangements for conducting the interview and, if it is possible, will ensure that the interpreter is of the same gender as the applicant. The interview pertaining to the application for international protection is one of the most important processes of the asylum procedure, as it provides the applicant for international protection with a sufficient opportunity to describe the problems and situation in his/her country of origin. The applicant also has the chance to submit or recommend other evidentiary materials to the Ministry, which he/she wants to use to support his/her claims during the proceedings.
During the proceedings for granting international protection, the alien is entitled to use his/her mother tongue or another language in which he/she is capable of communicating. Over the course of the entire proceedings, the alien has the right to an interpreter free of charge; the related expenses are borne by the state. If the alien so desires, he/she can invite an additional interpreter of his/her own choosing, however, this is at the alien’s own expense.
Aliens older than the age of eighteen have the right to act independently during the proceedings for granting international protection. Persons younger than 18 must be represented during the proceedings, starting at the time the application is filed, either by their authorised representative (parent) or, if this is not possible, by a guardian for residence appointed by the court on the basis of a recommendation made by the AMPD. If an alien cannot act independently during the proceedings due to health reasons, the AMPD MI CR will designate a guardian for him/her solely for the purposes of the proceedings for granting international protection.
During the proceedings for granting international protection, the applicant also has the right to request another person for legal advice or even to be represented in the proceedings by this person. The person must be authorised on the basis of a written power of attorney. If the alien is represented by an attorney, the signature on the power of attorney does not have to be officially certified.
However, the applicant must always take delivery of any decision issued in relation to a matter on international protection in person without regard to the fact that he/she has an authorised representative.
The applicant also has the right to be in contact with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees over the duration of the proceedings for granting international protection or to turn to organisations that are involved in protecting the rights of applicants for the granting of international protection. The applicant will receive a list of these organisations from the Ministry immediately at the time that the application for international protection is filed.
The Ministry will issue its decision in the matter of international protection within ninety days of the date that the proceedings for granting international protection are commenced. If, due to the nature of the specific matter, it is not possible to make a decision within this timeframe, the Ministry has the right to extend this period appropriately. The Ministry will inform the participant to the proceedings of the extension in writing without undue delay.
The decision becomes legally effective as of the date it is delivered to the applicant. The Alien Police will issue a departure order to the alien on that date.
Proceedings for granting international protection can be terminated on the basis of a ruling in the matter (whether positive or negative), by means of a decision to reject the application as manifestly unfounded or by discontinuing the proceedings.
The Ministry will grant an alien asylum pursuant to Section 12 of the Asylum Act if, over the course of the proceedings for granting international protection, it is determined that the alien experienced persecution for exercising political rights and freedoms or has justifiable fear of such persecution in the country of which he/she is a citizen or, in the case of a stateless person, the country of his/her last permanent residence, for reasons of race, sex, religion, nationality, association with a social group or supporting certain political opinions. The Ministry will grant asylum pursuant to Section 13 of the Asylum Act to family members of a recognised refugee, who was granted asylum pursuant to Section 12 or Section 14, for the purpose of family reunification in cases worthy of special consideration. The Ministry will grant an alien humanitarian asylum pursuant to Section 14 of the Asylum Act if no reasons for granting asylum pursuant to Section 12 are determined over the course of the proceedings for granting international protection, but if there are reasons worthy of consideration for granting asylum for humanitarian reasons. If asylum is granted, the recognised refugee will receive a certificate of residence permit of a recognised refugee, which authorises the alien to permanently reside in the territory of the Czech Republic. At the same time, the recognised refugee also has the right to request the Alien Police to issue a special type of refugee travel document.
The Ministry will grant subsidiary protection pursuant to Section 14a to an alien who does not meet the reasons for the granting of asylum if, over the course of the proceedings for granting international protection, it is determined that, in the alien’s specific case, there are justified fears that if the alien returns to the country of his/her citizenship or, in the case of a stateless person, to the country of his/her last permanent residence, he/she would face the risk of serious harm and that, due to this danger, he/she cannot or is not willing to use the protection of the country of which he/she is a citizen or the country of his/her last permanent residence. According to the Asylum Act, serious harm is understood to include imposition or enforcement of capital punishment, torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of an applicant for international protection, serious threat to life or human dignity due to malicious violence in situations of international or internal armed conflict, or if the departure of the alien would be in conflict with the Czech Republic’s international obligations. The Ministry will grant subsidiary protection pursuant to Section 14b of the Asylum Act to family members of an individual under subsidiary protection for the purpose of family reunification in cases worthy of special consideration. If subsidiary protection is granted, the alien will receive a certificate of residence permit of a person under subsidiary protection, which authorises the alien to stay legally in the territory of the Czech Republic for the period of time specified in the permit. By no later than thirty days prior to the expiration of the period for which subsidiary protection is granted, the applicant has the right to request the ministry to extend the validity of the permit.
If the Ministry cannot find any reasons for granting one of the aforementioned forms of international protection, it will issue a decision to not grant it, i.e., a negative decision in the matter.
The Ministry will reject an alien’s application for international protection as manifestly unfounded pursuant to Section 16 if, for example, the applicant refers only to economic reasons; provides incorrect information on his/her identity or citizenship or refuses to provide this information and there are no significant reasons for doing so; applies for international protection only in order to escape a situation of general need; arrives from a country that the Czech Republic considers to be a safe third country or safe country of origin; specifies facts that are obviously untrustworthy; destroys, damages or conceals his/her travel document or any other material document in order to complicate determination of the actual state of the matter or submits a falsified or altered travel document or any other material document with the same aim; or files an application for granting international protection with the aim of avoiding the threat of expulsion or extradition for criminal prosecution to a foreign country in spite of the fact that he/she could have applied for international protection at an earlier time.
In the case of manifestly unfounded applications, the Ministry will apply a “fast-track procedure”. In these cases, a decision must be issued by no later than thirty days after the commencement of the proceedings for granting international protection.
Proceedings for granting international protection are not necessarily ended on the basis of a decision in the matter, but can also be terminated through the discontinuation of proceedings. The reasons why the Ministry will discontinue the proceedings include, amongst others, situations wherein the applicant for international protection withdraws his/her application for international protection; obtains Czech citizenship; dies; fails to appear for an interview without a justifiable reason; does not provide the information that is required in order to reliably determine the actual state of the matter and the matter cannot be decided on the basis of the information provided thus far; or if, during the course of the proceedings, the applicant for international protection enters the territory of another country or attempts to enter the territory of another state in an unauthorised manner, etc.
The proceedings for granting international protection will also be discontinued for inadmissible applications pursuant to Section 10a of the Asylum Act. The following are considered to be inadmissible: applications filed by a citizen of the European Union; applications that another member state of the European Union is responsible for examining; applications that are submitted by an alien who has been granted refugee status by another EU member state; or if the alien could have found protection in the first asylum country. An application will also be considered to be inadmissible if an alien repeatedly files an application without specifying new facts or findings that were not, for reasons for which the alien is not to blame, examined within the scope of preciously legally completed proceedings for granting international protection. (An action filed against this administrative decision does not have a legal dilatory effect.)