*Note that Iceland is not bound by the recast Asylum Procedures Directive (APD) or the recast Reception Conditions Directive. However, provisions of the Dublin III Regulation apply under specific procedures. A similar national legal framework governs the processing of international protection applications at the first instance, as outlined in the Act on Foreigners, the Regulation on Foreigners and the Regulation on conditions for a special asylum procedure – accelerated procedure, No 830/2014.
In Iceland, there is one appeal body with jurisdiction to examine an appeal against a decision relating to international protection, which is the Immigration Appeals Board (Kærunefnd útlendingamála).
The Immigration Appeals Board has jurisdiction in the following types of asylum procedures:
The Board does not have jurisdiction to hear appeals relating to reception conditions or to detention measures. Decisions issued by the Immigration Appeals Board are enforced by the Directorate of Immigration and the Icelandic police force (see Immigration Appeals Board, Organisation and Role).
Decisions of the Directorate of Immigration and the police under the Act on Foreigners may be appealed to the Immigration Appeals Board within 15 days of the notification of the decision to the applicant. Decisions made in accordance with Article 36 (inadmissibility cases) of the Act on Foreigners are subject to automatic appeal unless the applicant does not wish to appeal. Where an applicant is a national from a country designated as safe and the Directorate has processed the case in accordance with Article 29(1)(b)-(f) (Special procedure – priority treatment, the time limit for appeal is 5 days.
Appeals before the Immigration Appeals Board regarding asylum claims have an automatic suspensive effect, with exceptions for cases examined under Article 29(1)b and 29(2) (Special procedure – priority treatment) of the Act on Foreigners. In such cases, applicants have the right to request the suspension of the legal effects of a decision.
The Immigration Appeals Board examines appeals in full and ex nunc (Article 8 Act on Foreigners).
The Immigration Appeals Board may confirm the decision of the Department of Immigration, amend it or overturn it in part or in full, including by providing international protection. The Board may also refer the case for further consideration to the Directorate of Immigration (Article 8 Act on Foreigners).
Decisions issued by the Immigration Appeals Board are final and cannot be appealed to a higher administrative authority (Article 6 Act on Foreigners).
An applicant may, however, request a judicial review of the decision issued by the Immigration Appeals Board by submitting an appeal before the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court. If the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court find that the Immigration Appeals Board made a legal error, they may order the Board to re-examine the applicant’s decision in respect of their findings. The courts hear such cases in accordance with the regular court procedure, Act No 91/1991. This is not covered in this overview of asylum appeals.