The cassation procedure

The applicant and his lawyer have 30 calendar days to submit a cassation appeal after notification of the ruling by the CALL. This appeal has no suspensive effect and the IO can carry out an existing decision to remove or repatriate.

There is a ‘filter procedure’ whereby the CoS checks, within 8 calendar days, whether the appeal is admissible and eligible for further processing. Many appeals fail to make it through the filter procedure. If the appeal is declared inadmissible, the asylum procedure is closed definitively, without any further possibility of appeal.

If it is declared admissible, the CoS examines whether the legal arguments invoked can lead to cassation of the CALL’s ruling. The CoS does not examine the facts of the application and only checks whether the CALL has followed the correct procedures.

The annulment procedure is a written procedure and the CoS works on the basis of the documents in the legal file. The CGRS acts as the defending party.

The cassation ruling

The ruling usually follows within 6 months. This term is not binding.

If the CoS overrules the CALL’s ruling, the asylum file is sent back to the CALL. The CALL has to render a new ruling taking into account the objections of the CoS.

If the CoS rejects the cassation appeal, the CALL’s ruling is final and the asylum procedure is definitively closed.

Information about the asylum procedure, tailored to the asylum seeker, can be found at : asyluminbelgium.be.