In Belgium there are two levels of appeal.

At the first appeal level, the Council for Alien Law Litigation (CALL) is a specialized administrative court which examines only cases relating to migration and asylum matters, which includes ruling on appeals lodged against a decision on international protection taken by the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS).

The CALL examines only appeals on:

1. asylum matters, which includes ruling on appeals lodged against a decision on international protection taken by the Office of the CGRS. CALL has full jurisdiction and carries out a full and ex nunc examination on the merits and legality aspects.
2. migration matters, which includes ruling on appeals lodged against a decision on entry, residence, return and removal taken by the Immigration Office (IO). CALL has a limited jurisdiction and carries out an ex tunc examination on the absence of factual errors and the legality.

CALL was established according to the Law of 15 September 2006.

Law of 15 December 1980 (Aliens Act) governs the procedure before CALL (see chapter Ibis).

In the procedure on appeal against a CGRS decision, CALL reassesses the case in full and ex nunc, on both facts and points of law, and decides on refugee status and subsidiary protection status, or in certain circumstances, annuls the decision and refers the case to the CGRS. These appeals lodged before CALL have automatic suspensive effect (see also FAQ website CALL).

There is no possibility for an appeal at second instance against a judgment of the CALL. The judgments of CALL are subject to the cassation control of the Council of State (Article 39/67 Law of 15 December 1980).

The Council of State is the supreme administrative court. It was established by the Law of 23 December 1946. The Law of 12 January 1973 (coordinated laws on the Council of State) governs the procedure before the Council of State.

Appeals lodged before the Council of State do not have suspensive effect. For a case to be heard before the Council of State, it must pass an admissibility procedure. When a case is declared admissible, the Council of State conducts a judicial review of CALL’s ruling to determine whether the correct procedure was followed. The Council of State does not examine the facts of the application.

If the Council of State annuls CALL’s judgment, CALL must re-examine the case and issue a new judgment. If the Council of State rejects the cassation appeal, the judgment is final and a further appeal is not possible (see here for the Council of State application).