Use and acceptance of MLRs in the national asylum procedure The IRCT’s recommendations to ensure that the use and acceptance of MLRs is promoted in national asylum procedures are the following: • Advocate for national legislation to place an obligation on the state to systematically request that MLRs to be submitted in asylum procedures where allegations of torture are raised; • Ensure that asylum-seekers have access to independent medical and psychological staff, competent in producing MLRs according to the Istanbul Protocol principles. • Ensure that health professionals who are tasked with providing MLRs receive training on the Istanbul Protocol; • Ensure that MLRs are taken appropriately into account in order to improve the quality of decision-making in relation to VoTs’ asylum claims; • Ensure a more consistent approach to the use and application of MLRs across services and across countries; • Introduce official evaluation and monitoring of use of MLRs; • Provide training to immigration authority staff and judges on signs and symptoms of torture and trauma and on the interpretation of MLRs. As discussed in the introduction to this report, the use and acceptance of MLRs within the asylum procedure can be critical to a VoT´s asylum case. The IRCT believes that using MLRs that meet the international standards laid out in the Istanbul Protocol assists both the asylum-seeker and the state by providing an accepted standard that medical evidence should satisfy, ensuring the evidence is considered as part of the initial decision-making on the application and avoiding protracted and costly appeals due to the late submission of medical evidence during the asylum procedure. The findings show that, although MLRs can be submitted at any stage of the asylum procedure in the majority of the participating countries (72 percent), there are still substantial barriers to accessing MLRs. For example, centre in 44 percent of the countries indicated that the VoT may have to bear the costs of an MLR themselves in some circumstances. In addition, there are often difficulties finding trained health professionals who can prepare MLRs to the required standards recognised in the Istanbul Protocol. The importance of MLRs in asylum proceedings is becoming increasingly recognised at all stages of the asylum procedure, as the example below demonstrates. The European Court of Human Rights endorses the importance of MLRs in asylum proceedings The findings of the ECtHR in RC v Sweden clearly advocate that a state party to the ECHR should be 58 / Recognising victims of torture in national asylum procedures