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

uling. The CIAR comprises a representative from the Ministry of Interior (who chairs the
Commission), the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry for Labour
and Social Affairs. The UNHCR representative in Spain acts as a member of the CIAR in a
consultative capacity.
The CIAR makes its proposal on the basis of the information and evidence produced by the
applicant, the OAR’s report, and the opinions of UNHCR and refugee assisting NGOs. The
procedure is written and no hearing is stipulated by the Asylum Act. The CIAR may decide to
return the case to the OAR for further investigation, specifying the particular steps to be taken.
Alternatively, it may formulate a proposal for a decision, which may be:
– recognition of Convention status;
– refusal of asylum;
– refusal of asylum, but granting of leave to remain in Spain on humanitarian grounds;
– refusal of asylum, but recognition of the applicability of the non-refoulement clause (without
specific reference to any leave to remain in Spain).
The Minister usually follows the CIAR's opinion, although it is not binding. According to Section 7
of the Asylum Act, any disagreement between the CIAR and the Minister of Interior must be
settled by the Council of Ministers.
The processing of an application under the ordinary determination procedure, from the
submission of the application to the formal notification of the Minister's decision, must be
completed within six months. In practice, however, the processing time usually lasts for up to
eight or ten months, although rarely exceeding one year.
Judicial appeals
All negative decisions on asylum matters can be appealed to the Administrative Chamber of the
National High Court (Audiencia Nacional), whose remit covers judicial review of first instance
administrative decisions made by Ministers and Secretaries of State. An appeal must be lodged
within two months of the communication of the negative decision to the applicant.
Appeals do not have automatic suspensive effect, but the suspension of removal proceedings
may be requested to the Court. If such suspension is granted, no removal can take place until the
National High Court has reached its decision. Conversely, there have been cases when asylum
seekers were removed from the country pending their appeals, where the High Court did not
grant suspensive effect.
The time required to process an appeal case before the High Court is between 18 months and
two years, sometimes even more.
Rulings made by the National High Court may be further appealed to the Supreme Court
(“Tribunal Supremo”), which examines the legality of the decisions but not the facts of the case.
Again, suspensive effect is not automatic but may be requested. If it is granted before the
National High Court, it is, in principle, subsequently maintained, unless the Supreme Court
decides otherwise. The Supreme Court may uphold or overrule the judgement of the High Court
in part or as a whole. In the latter case, the Court renders a decision on the application and in that
way, it establishes and defines new rules related to asylum matters.
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