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Appeal – Migration Court
When your parents appeal they can say that they want to have a meeting in the court. This meeting is called verbal negotiation. There your parents will have the opportunity to talk about what you and your family have been through. It is the court that decides whether there will be a verbal negotiation.
Who will be at a verbal negotiation?
A verbal negotiation is usually attended by a judge, three lay assessors and a report submitter. The report submitter is a trained lawyer and prepares the negotiations. The judge is also a trained lawyer. A lawyer is a person who is trained in the Swedish legal system. Lay assessors are not trained lawyers. They have other jobs when they are not in court. Now it is no longer the Swedish Migration Board that makes the decisions.
The Swedish Migration Board is one party (one side) and is represented by a Litigation Officer. The Litigation Officer is a trained lawyer.
At the negotiations your parents are the other party (other side). They will be helped by their public counsel. The public counsel is a trained lawyer.
It is unusual for children to be allowed to be at a negotiation. The court will assess whether it is suitable for childre to be there.
An interpreter will be there so that everyone can understand each other.
It is the judge who leads the negotiations and decides who can talk. At the negotiations your parents, helped by your public counsel, will have the opportunity to say everything they want to the judge and the lay assessors. When they have finished talking the Litigation Officer from the Swedish Migration Board will have the opportunity to ask your parents questions. After that the the judge may ask some questions. Then your parents and your public counsel will conclude by again explaining why you cannot return home. After that the Litigation Officer will explain what the Swedish Migration Board thinks.
What does closed doors mean?
Negotiations in court should be open to everyone. This means that anyone who wants to can attend negotiations and listen. But if the court doesn´t think that anyone should be able to enter the courtroom the judge can decide to to close the doors. You could say that this means that the negotiations are secret. The court makes the negotiations secret when they concern sensitive matters or when one party in the negotiations is a child under 15. In closed door negotiations, only the people involved in the negotiations are allowed to be in the courtroom. The court will usually decide at the beginning of the negotiations whether to close the doors or not. The court can also decide to close the doors during the negotiations.
Can anyone read the court's decision?
A decision in a court is called a judgement. The court´s judgements are mostly public, which means that other people can read them. If parts of the judgement are confidential (secret) they can only be read by the people affected by the decision. The actual decision, (yes or no) is never confidential (secret). It is the Migration Court that decides about confidentiality.
What happens after the negotiations?
Usually the court will make a decision within a few weeks.
What happens if our appeal is approved?
Approval means that the Migration Court thinks that you can stay in Sweden.
It is important that you know that the Swedish Migration Board can appeal a judgement from the Migration Court in the Migration Court of Appeal. This means that the decision can be changed again. If the Swedish Migration Board hasn´t appealed the decision within three weeks, the decision is upheld. Then you will be granted a residence permit. Your parents will be called to a meeting about the residence permit with the staff at the Reception Unit. If you and your parents want you to be at this meeting you are allowed to be there.
You can read more about residence permits under the heading Residence permit - what happens then.
What happens if our appeal is refused?
Refusal means that the Migration Court has said no. It won´t change the Swedish Migration Board´s decision. The judgement from the Migration Court can be appealed to the Migration Court of Appeal.
