Education International Research
PART I: NATIONAL LEGAL FRAMEWORK International protection The right to asylum and subsidiary protection in Spain is regulated by Act no. 12 adopted on 30 October 2009. Article 3 thereof addresses and specifies the definition of refugee: Art. 3: Refugee status shall be granted to every individual who resides outside of the country of his or her nationality due to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, gender or sexual orientation, and cannot or, because of said fears, do not want to avail him/herself of the protection of said country, or to a stateless person who, lacking nationality and being outside the country where s/he previously resided, for the same reasons cannot, or because of said fears, does not wish to go back, and does not fall under any of the reasons for exclusion under Article 8 or the causes for rejection or revocation of Article 9.
The processing of applications for international protection falls under the direct preview of the Asylum and Refugee Office in Spain. This body meets under the mandate of the Ministry of the Interior and examines asylum applications to decide whether they are accepted or rejected in the processing phase (known as the application process). This same body is also responsible for examining the case and the evidence included in the applicants granted leave (a process known as the investigation of the dossier), to issue a favourable or unfavourable report in the end whether to grant international protection. In essence, the final decision on the matter ultimately depends on the minister for the interior. It is worth underscoring that a number of experts have pointed out that the Spanish legislation on this matter is not in line with the procedures considered by directives adopted at European level. The representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Francesca Friz-Prguda, cited the need to address this lack of harmony when she appeared before the Lower House of Parliament in March 2016.1 To these limitations should be added the lack of specific legal provisions on 1 Diario de Sesiones de las Cortes Generales. Comisiones Mixtas. Nยบ8/12.04.2016 (p. 6 and 7). Available at: http://www.congreso.es/public_oficiales/L11/CORT/DS/CM/DSCG-11-CM-8.PDF (consulted on 5 August 2017).
C6