Towards the Ethical Publication of Country of Origin Information (COI) in the Asylum Process

Abstract

This article addresses the question of how 'Country of Origin Information' (COI) reports-that is, research developed and used to support decision-making in the asylum process-can be published in an ethical manner. The article focuses on the risk that published COI reports could be misused and thereby harm the subjects of the reports and/or those involved in their development. It supports a situational approach to assessing data ethics when publishing COI reports, whereby COI service providers must weigh up the benefits and harms of publication based, inter alia, on the foreseeability and probability of harm due to potential misuse of the research, the public good nature of the research, and the need to balance the rights and duties of the various actors in the asylum process, including asylum seekers themselves. Although this article focuses on the specific question of 'how to publish COI reports in an ethical manner', it also intends to promote further research on data ethics in the asylum process, particularly in relation to refugees, where more foundational issues should be considered.

Conceptualisations of Legal Otherness in Asylum Evidentiary Practices: From Formal to Anthropological Interpretations of Unconventional Legal Authorities

“…Slepým místem ve stínu tohoto zájmu je zejména azylové dokazování. Teprve v posledních několika letech se realizovaly jeho výzkumy v některých jiných evropských zemích -věnovaly se zejména nekonzistentnosti rozhodování dle stejných podkladů [zejména Affolter, Miaz, Poertner 2019;Affolter 2021;Bodström 2021Kobelinsky 2019, modifikacím faktů otázkami při azylových pohovorech [zejména Bodström 2020Ramezankhah 2017Schittenhelm, Schneider 2017], "důkazním reprezentacím" zemí původu [Van der Kist, Dijstelbloem, de Goede: 2019; Van der Kist, Rosset 2020; Aggarwal, Floridi 2020] či "střetům epistemologií" soudního a expertního vědění [Bianchini 2021].…”