The Use of Medico-Legal Reports in Asylum Processes in Belgium

Abstract

In the asylum processes, medical documents are frequently used to establish a need for international protection. These include medico-legal reports written under the Istanbul Protocol. Their objective is to prove past persecution (e.g. torture) and/or specific vulnerability/ies, which should be taken into account in the procedure as well as in the assessment of the protection needs.

Firstly, the applicable international and EU legal framework and existing ECtHR case law are briefly analysed. Secondly, a study of Belgian asylum authorities and Courts’ practices, based on the analysis of individual cases, and on interviews carried out with victims of torture, shows that the weight given by asylum authorities to these documents varies. There is a lack of consistency in the practice in particular regarding their probative value. The article analyses in detail trends in the case-law and the reasonings put forward. Lastly, the article discusses how medical documents, by identifying and documenting vulnerabilities, can contribute to the consideration of all vulnerabilities from an intersectional perspective.