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

According to Section 8 of the Asylum Law, an application may be deemed inadmissible on “safe
third country” grounds. A “safe third country” is defined as a country where the asylum seeker:
– has already been granted protection or has had the opportunity to ask for such protection
before claiming asylum in Luxembourg;
– is protected against refoulement under the terms of the Geneva Convention and treated in
accordance with internationally accepted humanitarian criteria;
– will not be subject to any form of persecution and where his/her safety and freedom are not
threatened.
According to Section 9 of the Asylum Law, an application may be deemed manifestly unfounded
when the asylum seeker does not express fear of persecution on account of his/her race, religion,
nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinions, or when he/she
originates from a country which is considered “safe” by the Luxembourg authorities. An
application based on a false identity or false declarations or submitted in order to avoid imminent
deportation may also be considered as manifestly unfounded.
Until very recently, the decision on whether an application is inadmissible or manifestly
unfounded was taken by the Minister of Justice following consultation with the Refugee
Consultative Commission (”Commission Consultative des Réfugiés”), composed of a
representative of the Ministry for Family Affairs, a person designated on the advice of UNHCR
and a judge acting as chairperson. However, following the Law of 18 March 2000 which amended
the Asylum Law, the Minister of Justice now makes a decision alone, although he/she retains the
option to submit individual cases to the Commission for advice.
According to Section 10(1) of the Asylum Law, the Minister’s decision must be taken within two
months of the submission of an application, although not before the thorough interview with the
officer of the Ministry of Justice has taken place (which may require more than two months). In
practice, the time required to process the application through the inadmissibility/manifestly
unfounded procedure varies from case to case, but generally exceeds this two-month time limit.
An asylum seeker may, within three months of receiving a negative decision, submit a request to
the Ministry of Justice for his/her case to be reassessed.
He/she may also lodge an appeal for annulment with the Administrative Court within one month of
receiving a negative decision. Such an appeal has suspensive effect. The Court must render its
decision within a further month (and does so in most cases). Negative decisions of the
Administrative Court may be further appealed to the Administrative Court of Appeals (“Cour
d’appel administrative et fiscale”) with suspensive effect. Following the amendments to the
Asylum Law of March 2000, the Court of Appeals must also render its decision within one month.
Both the Administrative Court and the Administrative Court of Appeals examine only the legality
of the Minister's decision and not the merits of the case. If the initial decision is overruled, the
application is returned to the Minister for reconsideration. If the Minister confirms his/her initial
decision, the asylum seeker will usually be removed from the country, unless he/she is eligible for
another form for residence permit (see “Final rejection” below).
Normal determination procedure
First instance
Once it has been deemed admissible and not manifestly unfounded, an application is processed
under the normal refugee determination procedure. First instance decisions are made by the
Minister of Justice. Since March 2000, the Refugee Consultative Commission is no longer
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