Country of Origin Information
Objective, fully sourced country reports establishing the general and situation-specific conditions relevant to a protection claim — from the treatment of a particular minority to the reach of the state apparatus.
COI
Primary source categories
- UNHCR & OHCHR
- Human Rights Watch / Amnesty
- US State Department (DRL)
- EUAA / ecoi.net
- Peer-reviewed area studies
- Local & diaspora reporting
How the expert gathers and tests the intelligence.
We define the precise questions the decision-maker must answer, distinguishing the general country situation from the specific risk profile raised by the claim.
Evidence is drawn from a triangulated base: UN and NGO reporting, peer-reviewed scholarship, reputable media, and — where reliable — in-country contacts.
Each source is weighed for authorship, methodology, currency, and independence. Contradictory sources are addressed rather than omitted.
Findings are set out with a transparent audit trail, so every proposition can be traced to its underlying evidence.
Objectively contextualising government country notes.
Official country materials carry weight, but they are not the last word. Our reports engage them directly and transparently.
What official country notes are
Government country policy and information notes summarise official views of country conditions and return policy. They are evidence, but they are not determinative and their sourcing can be selective.
How the report engages them
We identify the sources those notes rely upon, test them against the wider evidence base, and explain — with citation — where the objective picture diverges.
Objective, not advocacy
The report describes conditions as the evidence establishes them, whether or not this assists the claimant.
Currency
Rapidly changing situations are dated precisely and updated where a hearing is adjourned.
It is the duty of experts to help the decision-maker on matters within their expertise. This duty overrides any obligation to the person from whom experts have received instructions or by whom they are paid.
— Expert duty to the court or tribunal