Early identification also enables health services to initiate and provide on-going medical support, which may prevent any physical or mental symptoms from becoming chronic. Physical or mental health problems of asylum-seekers, which go unrecognised and untreated because of the barriers to accessing health care, may also place a heavier burden on the state’s health system in the immediate and long-term. Lack of early treatment causing the aggravation of symptoms may lead to an increase in the use of emergency services and even the eventual hospitalisation of the person, both of which will be more costly for the health system. Cost implications may also arise from the asylum-seeker (once a refugee) being unable to enter the job market and thus fully contribute to the economy of the host country. One of the key objectives of this research is therefore to gain an overview of the current status in the main asylum-receiving countries in relation to the early identification of victims of torture within the national asylum procedures. Why medico-legal reports are an important evidential tool in the asylum procedure “” bzfo, Germany We had a young victim of torture from Iran. On the initiative of both bzfo and the applicant’s lawyer, we submitted an MLR (on somatic and psychological sequelae) with his asylum application. He was granted refugee status, and after receiving 25 sessions of trauma-oriented psychotherapy, he hardly has any PTSD symptoms. He is now studying and wants to start his own business. A medico-legal report (MLR) is a report carried out by a medical expert that includes a physical and/ or psychological evaluation of the victim, and the expert’s opinion of the probable relationship of the physical and/or psychological findings to possible torture or ill-treatment.18 In relation to evidence, the use and acceptance of MLRs within the asylum procedure can be critical to a victim of torture’s asylum case. The IRCT believes that medico-legal reporting, according to the internationally recognised standards outlined in the Istanbul Protocol, is beneficial to both the asylum-seeker and the state assessing the asylum application, for the following reasons: 1. It helps to assess the consistency between the medical findings and the account of torture, illtreatment or trauma made by the asylum-seeker in his/her claim for protection; 2. It decreases the number of procedures and appeals necessary to correct previously incomplete evidence in support of the asylum claim; 3. It improves the quality of the decision-making process by ensuring the information provided in support of the allegations is in conformity with internationally recognised standards. The use of an MLR as evidence allows an expert opinion to be given on the degree to which medical or psychological findings correlate with the alleged victim’s allegation of abuse. The MLR is used as an evidential tool that effectively communicates the clinician’s medical or psychological findings and interpretations to the decision-making authorities and the judiciary. It should be used as early as possible in the asylum procedure to ensure that decision-making authorities have the strongest evidence available when reviewing the applicant’s case. The increased use and acceptance of MLRs to support allegations of torture or ill-treatment must be accompanied by training for decision-makers on how to interpret findings in the MLR. Decision-makers need to understand the effects torture can have on an asylum-seeker’s ability to recount events. Recognising victims of torture in national asylum procedures / 13