By Ggia - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45246844
By Ggia - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45246844
Information for Legal Firms
MECS produces Country Expert Reports, Document Authentications, and Nationality Assessments, for asylum cases.
Download the MECS brochure for Immigration Services
Please be advised of FAQs for MECS immigration reports
FOR THE ATTENTION OF ASYLUM SEEKERS
If you are an Asylum Seeker hoping to get an Expert Report to validate your case, please contact a solicitor. We cannot be instructed by yourself.
Country Expert Reports
An objective expert report can be used in any legal cases or other commissioned projects to provide research and opinion on single- or multi-strand issues. The matter at stake may be political, social, family-related, medical, tribal, security-associated, or one of many others linked to the particular country or area concerned. In many cases, the claim is an amalgamation of personal narrative/testimony, a chain of events, and court documents, and these must be put in the context of the situation in the country in question. A country expert report can help more easily define the case and provide missing vital background information by supplying the objective evidence on the key events, actors, the socio-political milieu and other factors of a given scenario.
The process of producing expert reports is a challenging one: MECS’ expert reports combine analysis and interpretation of objective evidence – frequently scattered and fragmented, and often in many languages – with the team’s personal experience of the MENA region, Iran and Afghanistan. Yet a country expert report is an efficient and cost-effective way of distilling large amounts of complex information in a user-friendly manner, and enables you to focus on the legal side of the case.
Not many legal firms or government agencies use expert witness reports in legal cases. This can result in important factors within a case being overlooked. MECS believes it is vital for any case to be supported by an impartial expert report, which addresses all issues thoroughly, in order to offer a better understanding of answers to intricate questions. An expert report does not support one party in the case, but rather assists all parties involved to achieve justice by clarifying difficult subjects and providing strong foundations for sound decision-making.
Document Authentication
MECS has been authenticating documents from the Middle East and North Africa for clients worldwide since 2000.
The counterfeiting of documents has become extremely sophisticated with the increasingly global availability of competitive-edge technology. Legal firms, commercial organisations and government agencies all face the challenge of filtering out irregular documents from the regular in order to be in a position to make sound decisions. A large number of documents originating from MENA are used internationally on a daily basis. And while the majority of these are genuine, some of them are not.
It is widely misunderstood that document authentication can be successfully achieved by utilising standard forensic testing alone. However, in isolation, this method can only provide part of the truth about a document’s providence.
MECS’ authentications are completed with a two-pronged approach. MECS conducts forensic tests on the features of each document as part of the science of Questioned Document Examination (QDE). And the fact that MECS' consultants speak, read and write the official languages of the region enables a thorough analysis of the text.
Yet, documents from MENA require a method of examination and expert knowledge that goes beyond the limits of science in order to determine authenticity. Quite often documents from MENA do not include recognisable official markings or other testable features (seals, signatures, rubberstamps, etc.). And even when they do, these markings may have been produced in a manner seemingly at odds with the norm - something printed instead of stamped, for example. It is therefore necessary to place the document within the cultural and procedural or legal context of the country or region in which the document was produced or issued. MECS’ knowledge of a country’s culture, social make-up, legal system and history thus become a vital element of the authentication process.
This unique combination of forensic testing and country-specific expertise enables a truly comprehensive examination of any given document from MENA. The reliability of this method guarantees peace of mind to every client.
Nationality Assessments
MECS is the only commercial centre to settle nationality and ethnicity disputes in the UK. The firm’s knowledge of Middle East languages, geography and ethno-religious groups enables members of our team to assess the likely foundation and origin of an individual within MENA.
MECS has examined the dialects and languages of a large number of Kurds, Arabs and Bidoon (those 'without nationality').
We are able to conduct nationality assessments in Arabic, Farsi, Kurdish Sorani, and Kurdish Bahdini/Kurmanji.
For more information regarding our asylum reports please consult our "Services" page.
Alternatively please contact Dr. Rebwar Fatah via: Rebwar[at]mideastconsultancy.com