legal and social conditions for asylum seekers and refugees in ...

Legal aid
All appellants are provided with a lawyer paid for by the Danish state. Hearings before the Appeals
Board are not public. The presence of the appellant and his/her legal representative is required and
an interpreter is provided if necessary.
Decisions by the Refugee Appeals Board are final and cannot be further appealed.
Information and counselling are offered by the Danish Refugee Council to all asylum seekers at
all stages of the procedure. This is done either through information meetings organised on a
regular basis in the reception centres throughout the country, or via individual counselling
available at the DRC’s office.
In addition, the police must inform asylum seekers dealt with under border or Dublin procedure, or
subject to detention (upon arrival or under deportation procedure) of their right to contact the
DRC. If the applicant requests it, a DRC’s representative visits him/her in the airport or in prison
in order to provide information and counselling. DRC’s representatives are allowed to meet with
the applicant without the presence of the police. Interpreters are provided by the DRC.
Information and counselling activities of the DRC are subsidised by the state.
All asylum seekers are entitled to free legal aid before the Refugee Appeals Board and a lawyer
is automatically designated via the free legal aid system. Appellants may request a specific
lawyer to be appointed.
Interpreters
Interpreters are provided at all stages of the procedure, including during the police interview at
the border. However, in some cases, in particular at the Danish-German border, interpreting
services may be provided by telephone only.
The DRC has its own list of interpreters covering all languages spoken by asylum seekers in
Denmark.
Free legal aid granted before the Refugee Appeals Board includes interpreting costs.
Unaccompanied minors
The decision whether or not to apply the asylum determination procedure to a minor is made by
the Immigration Service according to an evaluation of the child’s maturity. If the child is not
considered mature enough, his/her application will not be processed and he/she will be
automatically issued with a residence permit for exceptional reasons (Section 9.2.4 of the Aliens
Act). Otherwise, the minor will enter the asylum determination procedure. There is an increasing
tendency to examine applications submitted by younger children (below the age of 15). In any
case, the granting of a residence permit for exceptional reasons may be considered during or
after the asylum procedure.
At all interviews related to the asylum procedure, the child must be assisted by one of the Red
Cross guardians. Their role is not to represent the child legally, but only to make sure that the
interview is conducted in a proper way and the child’s specific needs are taken into account.
Apart from this, unaccompanied minors are not appointed a legal representative and there are no
special guidelines for the processing of their applications.
Female asylum seekers
There are no special provisions in Danish legislation regarding the processing of asylum claims
submitted by female applicants.
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Denmark