The ESRC LADO Network is a network of researchers
established through the UK Economic and Social
Research Council grant no. RES-451-26-0911 to
Prof. Peter L.
Patrick of the University of Essex
Dept. of Language & Linguistics
and Human Rights Centre,
in order to conduct a series of Research Seminars. The theme is "Language
Analysis of Asylum Applicants: Foundations, Guidelines & Best Practice", and the
meetings are being held in 2011-12 at the
University of Essex.
The membership of the ESRC LADO Network initially consists of
the LARG Convenors
and Advisory Panel.
The four meetings reach beyond this membership to involve a broad range of
academics and practitioners, as well as postgraduate students and young
scholars. They will assemble linguists and professionals involved in Language
Analysis for Determination of Origins (LADO),
as well as participants from legal, government, academic, NGO and other
backgrounds engaged in refugee status determination.
ESRC LADO Network Seminar #4:
"Best Practice in LADO: The Way Forward"
Sat 24 November 2012
University of Essex Colchester campus, Square 1, Psychology Building, Room
4.722 (Senate Room)
Description:
The Language and Asylum Research Group (LARG) is the leading international
study group for LADO (Language Analysis for Determination of Origin), comprising
a distinguished panel of experts with collective experience of linguistic,
bureaucratic, legal, and human rights dimensions of LADO and asylum. Members are
based in the UK, Europe, North America & Australasia, and include linguistic
experts with first-hand experience in LADO and related areas such as forensic
linguistics, senior government staff in immigration and asylum bureaux, legal
experts in migration and asylum law, human rights practitioners, representatives
of asylum/refugee NGOs, and academics of other disciplines with experience in
asylum contexts.
This event followed three earlier meetings in the
Research Seminar series “Language Analysis of Asylum
Applicants: Foundations, Guidelines and Best Practice”.
The first meeting considered a range of methods for
producing speech data for LADO; the second examined the
roles of linguists and native speakers in conducting
LADO analysis; and the third reviewed standards for
expertise and issues in collecting and analysing data
from vulnerable speakers in other (forensic and
clinical) institutional settings. This meeting was the
last of the series.
The convenors of LARG believe that LADO has a
contribution to make to good quality decision-making in
the Refugee Status Determination (RSD) process. However,
over the past decade, the validity of LADO reports has
often been challenged on a variety of grounds. Issues of
quality, expertise and efficiency – as well as the
variety of methods, qualifications, procedures and
expert knowledge found among those who provide and
evaluate LADO reports – have all been perceived to
present challenges to the efficient, legally robust,
cost-effective and scientifically-sound LADO process
desired by all stakeholders. The perception has grown
that language analysis may not have the value it was
once believed to have as expert evidence.
Recent developments have highlighted the key roles
and responsibilities of both experts providing forensic
science, such as LADO, and its users, such as
immigration and asylum bureaux. To take the Netherlands
as an example, the
Netherlands Register of Court Experts (NRGD) has
advised an approach to quality standards and assessment
which recommends that users demand evidence of
competence, while experts develop guidelines and
best-practice standards; the application of this
'forensic quality circle' to LADO was discussed at the
third meeting. Meanwhile, the
Advisory
Committee on Migration Affairs (ACVZ) has reported
on the role of expert advice in the asylum procedure,
making recommendations that include LADO, and go beyond
improving the quality of expert advice to evaluating and
guaranteeing that quality, and formally organizing its
place within asylum procedures.
The focus of this meeting was on best practice in
LADO. LARG is committed to making a contribution to
high-quality LADO, including the development of
standards that are legally sound, practicable and in
line with state-of-the-art linguistic science.
Governmental users of LADO and organizations of experts
have not often met together. This meeting was designed
to bring users into the process created by LARG, to hear
about the needs of users, and to discuss the preliminary
results of the first three meetings with parties who can
contribute to the development, implementation and
evaluation of sound policy in this area. We shared
advice and experience in order to advance the
understanding and institutional recognition of
best-practice standards in LADO.
Participants were invited based on their experience and interest in legal,
policy and/or expertise aspects of the Refugee Status Determination (RSD)
process. The session included exchanges with and commentary by participating
bureaus and experts, followed by discussion considering general issues of
quality development and control. Participants included:
- linguistic experts with first-hand experience in LADO and
related areas such as forensic linguistics,
- senior government staff in immigration and asylum bureaux,
- asylum and immigration judges,
- legal experts in migration and asylum law,
- human rights practitioners, and
- academics of other disciplines with experience in asylum
contexts.
Participants
Links to participants' bios in the 'Name' column; to their webpages in the
'Affiliation' column