Asylum Insights
AboutAn evidence practice, not an opinion service.
Asylum Insights exists because a great deal of expert evidence in asylum proceedings is written to persuade rather than to inform, and tribunals have learned to discount it. Reports that state their sources, their reasoning, and their limits are rarer than they should be, and they are the only kind worth filing.
- Base
- London, United Kingdom
- Commissions
- Worldwide
- Structure
- Specialist network
Why the phrase “country expert” has lost value
A report can be assembled from publicly available sources by anyone with a search engine and a weekend, and a great many are. The result reads plausibly and collapses under any competent cross-examination, because the author cannot say why one source is reliable and another is not, has never been to the country, and cannot answer a question that is not already in the bundle.
The distinction that matters is not credentials but currency: whether the expert is still engaged with the place they are writing about. Language, professional networks, recent presence, and contact with people currently there are what allow an expert to say that a widely cited source is out of date, or that a practice described as regional is now national.
Four commitments that shape every instruction
The duty is to the tribunal
Not to the instructing party, and not to the applicant. Where the evidence does not support the case being advanced, the report records that. Reports that read as advocacy are discounted, which serves nobody.
Method is published, not implied
Our analytical framework is set out on this site so it can be examined and, where appropriate, challenged. An expert method that cannot be described is one that cannot be tested.
Coverage is admitted, not claimed
Genuine coverage means language, fieldwork, and continuing contact with a country. Where we do not have that for the country you need, we decline rather than read the available reports and improvise.
Scope before fee, always
Questions, sources, timescale, and a fixed fee agreed in writing before work starts — and an honest view on whether the timetable allows evidence worth filing.
Who prepares the evidence
Specialists are described by discipline and region rather than by title. Named profiles are published only where the specialist consents and where publication would not compromise their access to the country.
If you want to test how we work, send us a refusal letter.
We will tell you what evidence would help, what would not, and whether we hold the right specialist for it.
Every enquiry is confidential. Nothing is shared with immigration authorities or any government body.