CAT/C/AUT/CO/4-5 legal aid. In this connection, the Committee recalls the recommendations made in 2004 and 2009 by the European Committee on the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The Committee also recommends that the State party should take the necessary measures to provide an effective free legal aid system, in particular for indigent criminal suspects. Composition of police force and correction system 12. While welcoming the measures taken by the State party to improve the representation of female and minority ethnic police officers, which will have beneficial impacts in policing including in matters of gender-based violence and any act based on discrimination, the Committee is concerned that the representation of women and ethnic minority communities in the police force and correction system remains very low (art. 2). The State party should continue its efforts to diversify the composition of its police force and correction services and to extend recruitment drives amongst ethnic minority communities throughout the country. The Committee invites the State party to provide in its next periodic report information on the measures taken to improve such representation as well as detailed statistical information on the compositions of the police force and correction system. Non-refoulement and access to a fair and prompt asylum procedure 13. The Committee welcomes the amendments introduced to the Asylum Law following Constitutional Court ruling G151/02 of 12 December 2002, which addressed the concerns expressed by the Committee in its previous concluding observations (CAT/C/AUT/CO/3). The Committee is concerned that under article 12 (a) of the revised Asylum Law, persons basing their repeat applications for international protection on new grounds cannot be granted a stay of their expulsion if they lodge their application within two days prior to the date set for deportation and may, consequently, be at risk of refoulement. Furthermore, persons whose first asylum application was not found admissible according to the Dublin II Regulation are, in case of repeat application, now excluded from de facto protection against removal (faktischer Abschiebeschutz), a residence permit for asylum-seekers during the admission procedure which does not allow removal from Austria. The Committee notes with concern that in both situations asylum-seekers are not afforded an effective remedy. The Committee is further concerned by the information provided by the State party that an appeal of a decision denying asylum based on a procedural issue, as opposed to subject matter, does not have automatic suspensive effect (art. 3) (see letter dated 15 November 2008 from the Rapporteur for follow-up on concluding observations). The State party should take the necessary measures to ensure that individuals under its jurisdiction are guaranteed fair treatment at all stages of the proceedings, including an opportunity for effective, independent and impartial review of decisions on expulsion, return or deportation. 14. The Committee notes that the legal provisions regarding the basic needs of asylumseekers, including health assistance, contained in the amended Federal Care Act (2005) and the Agreement on Basic Support (2004), have now been adopted by all Länder, as recommended by this Committee in its previous concluding observations (CAT/C/AUT/CO/3, para. 17). However, the Committee is concerned about reports on extensive statutory grounds for withdrawal and cessation of care provisions, such as filing a subsequent application within six months of a negative decision in a preceding procedure (art. 16). The State party should take effective measures to ensure that needy asylum-seekers are not left without adequate reception conditions, including accommodation and 4

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