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Beyond Credibility: the Evaluation of Evidence in the European Asylum System

Room 4-E4-SR03
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With the new Pact on Migration and Asylum, the European Union has expressed its intention to review the procedures for recognising the right to asylum in Europe. Proposals in this regard have been presented since 2016, when the European asylum system showed significant inefficiencies and problems related to the growing demand for protection. This year's conversion of some of the relevant Directives into Regulations is aimed, among other things, to standardise and simplify the process of assessing international protection cases and to provide uniform standards across the Union. In fact, the vagueness of Directives 2011/95/EU (Qualifications Directive Recast) and 2013/32/EU (Procedures Directive Recast) has certainly contributed to creating inequalities in the enjoyment of protection rights between States and to a lack of credibility of EU policies.

The question of the efficiency of the European Asylum System can be observed through multiple lenses, but it is surprising that the perspective from which it seems to be least studied is that of Epistemology and Theory of evidence. This is curious because these disciplines aim precisely to provide better tools for cognitive and decision-making processes, and they have a significant impact on the level of correctness and justice of the proceedings. Today, it seems extremely important to (study and) offer to operators skills related to 1) the management of the factors involved in the improvement (and deterioration) of the cognitive content of evidence and 2) the reduction of the margins of discretion that characterise the decision-making activity which here is often carried out in conditions of extreme scarcity of evidential elements.

“Beyond Credibility: the Evaluation of Evidence in the European Asylum System” is an event designed to provide tools for better conducting and evaluating interviews with applicants (as well as documental evidence). The initiative also aims to provide a “meeting place” for jurists, philosophers and sector operators in order to strengthen the mutual exchange of expertise and to improve the academic debate on that topic. For a long time, the literature has in fact focused exclusively on the credibility of the asylum seeker, either from the point of view of the jurisprudence of the European courts or through the lens of epistemic injustice. However, these approaches seem unsatisfactory because, firstly, the assessment of credibility does not seem to be a sufficient criterion to justify the outcome of the judgement. Secondly, the examination of credibility does not find a satisfactory theoretical foundation in these works. The structure of the event is threefold: the first part is dedicated to the expertise of the operators and to the critical issues of the sector’s legislation. The second part will give space to philosophical reflections, and the last section will focus on multidisciplinary evaluation tools and the role of expert knowledge.

10.12.2024

I – European Asylum System and national application: (h. 15,30-17)

  • The New Pact on Migration and Asylum and its impact on asylum qualification
    • Marco Gerbaudo, Università Bocconi.
  • The role of the decision maker in asylum cases: problems and concerns
    • Luca Minniti, Giudice del Tribunale di Firenze, IV sez. civile protezione internazionale
  • Defending an appellant (issues and peculiarities): 
    • Maurizio Veglio, Torino (lawyer).

Coffee break (h. 17- 17,30) 

II – Tools for decision-makers a multidisciplinary approach (h. 17,30-19)

  • Experts in Country of Origins information
    • Elena Consiglio, Università di Palermo, Palermo. 
  • AI and evidence evaluation 
    • Luca Pressacco, Università di Trento, Trento.
  • Psychology of witnesses, psychology of applicants
    • Giuliana Mazzoni, Università la Sapienza, Roma.

11.12.2024

III – International protection, philosophical issues: (h. 9,30-10,30) 

  • Standard of proof and evidence evaluation 
    • Edgar Aguilera, Girona University, Girona.
  • Truth and IEA (integrated epistemic approach) 
    • Elena Marchese, Università Bocconi

Coffee Break (h. 10.30-11.00)

  • Territoriality, borders, and the protection of fundamental rights 
    • Damiano Canale, Università Bocconi

General discussion (h. 11,30-12)