Implementing the Right to Access to Justice for Persons with PTSD in Swedish Asylum Proceedings

Abstract: By combining a legal doctrinal study and an empirical interview study, this thesis examines the implementation of the right to access to justice under article 13 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities for persons who due to post-traumatic stress syndrome have difficulties accounting for their stories in asylum proceedings. The starting point is that persons with PTSD likely will have more difficulties than others in presenting stories that will be viewed as credible, and that this could be mitigated through full implementation of article 13 of the CRPD. The study accounts for what rights to procedural accommodations there are for people with PTSD in Swedish asylum processes based on the CRPD and aims to answer the question of how these rights are implemented in Swedish asylum processes today. Previous research has described the scope of application for the CRPD, the obligation to provide procedural accommodations to persons with PTSD in asylum proceedings, and suggestions for implementing article 13. This thesis contributes by examining whether there is need for a reform of how Swedish refugee status determination processes are conducted in order for Sweden to comply with the CRPD. The study concludes that while some procedural accommodations are performed, there is a lack of enough procedural accommodations being provided consequently for persons with mental disabilities to be able to participate in asylum proceedings on equal terms with others. To comply with the CRPD, Sweden needs to take more legislative and other measures to ensure implementation, especially considering providing training for professionals working with asylum proceedings, raising awareness of the procedural rights persons with mental disabilities are entitled to under the CRPD.