Rights and Obligations of Participants in Administrative Procedures in International Protection

Abstract

The rights and obligations of the state represented by the corresponding body or official are not specifically highlighted in the Directive. The certainty of some duties of the “representative” of the state can be concluded only by analysing the scope of refugee rights, because the procedural rights of a refugee are positive and for their implementation the state is obliged to take certain measures, otherwise these rights cannot be exercised. Consequently, the obligations of the state, represented by authorised persons, correspond to the rights of a refugee: if a refugee, for example, has the right to remain in the territory of the asylum state, the state must ensure that such refugee enjoys this right, including the non-refoulment of such a refugee from the asylum state. Therewith, certain procedural rights and obligations of participants in proceedings are specifically defined, and states can only expand their scope, or the scope of their guarantees. Other rights, obligations, mechanisms for their implementation or restrictions are relatively defined and are formulated in the form of the rights or powers of member states to implement them in national legislation. Consequently, in the Directive, next to specifically determined rules on the legal status of participants in the procedure, there are authorising and allowable provisions, which authorise or allow states to independently determine the elements of this legal status.