Asylum seeker: from now on, you only have the right to cost-free counsel for weighty reasons during your asylum interview
During the summer, amendments concerning the legal aid of asylum seekers were made to the Aliens Act:
- A counsel paid by the State’s public legal aid office can accompany an applicant during the asylum interview only for exceptionally weighty reasons or if the applicant is an unaccompanied minor.
- As a rule, the counsel is a public legal aid attorney and only in exceptional cases a private advocate or a licensed attorney. Counsels are paid a fixed fee.
You can still always have a counsel with you at the asylum interview
An asylum seeker always has the right to use a counsel at the asylum interview. After the amendment to the law, the counsel will receive a separate compensation for the interview only if there are exceptionally weighty reasons for him or her to be present at the asylum interview or if the applicant is an unaccompanied asylum seeker under the age of 18. At a later stage, the public legal aid office evaluates when there have been weighty reasons for a counsel to be present at the asylum interview.
Public legal aid office decides on the assignment of a counsel
An asylum seeker has the right to receive legal aid when his or her application is being processed at the Finnish Immigration Service and during the appeal process.
If you need a counsel to assist you in your asylum matter, please contact a public legal aid office. The public legal aid office will assign you a counsel. The police, the reception centre, the Finnish Immigration Service and any other authority who notices that you need legal aid can also direct you to a public legal aid office.
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