Comparative analysis regarding the procedure for granting the refugee statute in Romania and France

• Author: Madalina Cocosatu
• Position: Faculty of Public Administration, National School of Political Studies and Public Administration
• Pages: 72-81

Comparative analysis regarding the procedure for granting

the refugee statute in Romania and France

Ph.D. Lecturer Mdlina COCOŞATU

1

Abstract

Everyday realities demonstrate more a nd more the fact that there are people who

are c onstraint to leave their countr ies of origin, a s a consequence of dangers of a nature to

seriously ha rm their right to life, liberty or integrity and who a re forced to remain for a

period of time, or even for the rest of their lives, in the country offering them asylum. From

the analysis of the current legal fra mework in Romania a nd Fra nce, we can stat e that a t the

level of the two states there is a tendency to give norms applicable both to the seekers of the

refugee status, a s well as t o asylum-seekers. In spite of the fact tha t the two notions ca nnot

be confused with one another, their common regulation is the result of the numerous

resemblances between the two institutions, such as, most times, the state that recognized the

statute of re fugee as immediate pr otection form will also grant the right to asylum a s final

protection form. Thus, both at the level of Romania, and a t the level of France, the two

institutions repre sent humanitar ian protection forms for al iens persec uted for their beliefs,

opinions or the political belonging or their belonging to a socia l group, or as a

consequence of their race, religion, nationality2, which is gra nted by the state by virtue of

its sovereignty. In addition, the Romanian state and the French state underta ke to grant

similar r ights a nd liber ties to the refugees and asylum-seekers, equal to those of their own

citizens, out of which stands out the right not to be banished. Following the direction

imposed by the U.N. Convention of year 1951, neither Romania, nor France grant the

statute of refugee to the alien who committed a crime against peace or mankind, a serious

common law offence, outside the state, before being a dmitted to its territory as a refugee,

or facts c ontrary to the goals and pr inciples sta ted by the U.N. Char ter3. By granting the

statute of refugee, the alien receives the permission to stay of the territory of the Romanian,

respective French state, he benefits of identity documents, of the right to choose his place of

residence and he may even travel freely in the same conditions as the other aliens4.

Keywords: refugee, right to asylum, ordinar y procedure, a ccelerated procedure

JEL Classification: K23

1 Mdlina Cocoşatu, Faculty of Public Administration, National School of Political Studies and

Public Administration, madacocosatu@yahoo.com

2 Iancu Gheorghe, Dr eptul de azil - Privire c omparativ cu statutul juridic al refugiatului, All Beck

Publishing House, Bucharest, 2002, p. 75-76.

3 art. 25 para. 1 of Law no. 122/2006 regarding asylum in Romania.

4 Government Expedite Ordinance no. 194/2002 regarding the regime of aliens in Romania and

Government Ordinance no. 2004-1248 of November 24th, 2004 regarding the Code of entry and stay

of aliens and the right to asylum in France.