Menu
Search
Procedure management and quality assurance ,
Größer darstellen
Source: BAMF
Procedure management
Ongoing procedure management is needed in order to implement the asylum procedure uniformly. This is to ensure that decision-making practice is uniform in all of the Federal Office’s locations.
Uniform assessment of the situation within the authority
The asylum procedure is managed via various instruments such as official instructions and work guidelines. In the shape of guides, these also include internal orientation aids for asylum-seekers’ main countries of origin. These for instance make it easier to assess the situation where circumstances are comparable. The guides also cover topics such as domestic flight alternatives, group persecution and family liability. They however never replace an individual examination and assessment of the asylum applications. This is additionally carried out in each individual case by the decision-makers.
The guides
- are based on the information from the "Country analyses" division regarding the countries of origin,
- are always kept up to date,
- are refined on the basis of the cooperation between the "Policy on the asylum procedure, Common European Asylum System, distribution between the Länder" division, as well as the analysis divisions, and the expert forum at the "Asylum and Migration Information Centre". The refinement procedure furthermore incorporates information obtained by the Federal Office’s locations at asylum applicants’ interviews.
The guides reflect the policy of the Federal Office
Management of the asylum procedure also serves to standardise the decision-making practice of the administrative courts. For this reason, the guides also apply in the procedural field as a basis for forming the policy of the Federal Office. There is a constant exchange of information between the locations and the division which manages litigation in the higher courts, for instance on the current decision-making practice of the higher courts.
Effective management is however contingent on constant performance reviews. In addition to specialist supervision by heads of division and of groups, this is also ensured by the "Operative management of asylum procedures and integration" division. The division analyses developments and trends so that it is possible to recognise and react to a need to act for management at an early date.
Quality assurance
The quality assurance of asylum proceedings consists of a variety of elements.
It is carried out on a holistic basis given that the entire asylum process needs to be examined from the application to the service of the notice. The quality control of interviews and notices is based on the four-eyes principle, which is applied in the form of short summaries. In addition, randomly-selected procedures are subjected to further quality control by the central Quality assurance division.
Procedural tools are used with the aim of complying with the quality standards and ensuring uniform decision-making practice. They include official instructions, text manuals, work guidelines as well as the "Interview and notice" quality manuals, which are continually updated.
Moreover, the following further and advanced training opportunities in quality assurance for decision-makers need to be referred to:
- joint projects such as the IOM/UNHCR project entitled "Identifying and protecting victims of human trafficking"
- training and coaching for decision-makers in the asylum process together with the Federal Association for Refugees and Victims of Torture
- ongoing training for decision-makers together with the German Society for Supervision
- basic and further training plan for decision-makers (in particular the specially-commissioned case-officers for unaccompanied minors, victims of trauma and persons persecuted because of their gender)
- regular meetings of decision-makers for a specialist exchange.
Regular exchanges (discussions and workshops) also take place with the UNHCR and with European partner authorities as part of quality assurance.