{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/nationality-and-borders-act-2022/section-32",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/nationality-and-borders-act-2022/section-32.json",
  "legislation": "ukpga/2022/36",
  "legislation_title": "Nationality and Borders Act 2022",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/nationality-and-borders-act-2022",
  "path": "section/32",
  "kind": "section",
  "number": "32",
  "heading": "Article 1(A)(2): well-founded fear",
  "text": "(1) In deciding for the purposes of Article 1(A)(2) of the Refugee Convention whether an asylum seeker’s fear of persecution is well-founded, the following approach is to be taken.\n(2) The decision-maker must first determine, on the balance of probabilities—\n(a) whether the asylum seeker has a characteristic which could cause them to fear persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion (or has such a characteristic attributed to them by an actor of persecution), and\n(b) whether the asylum seeker does in fact fear such persecution in their country of nationality (or in a case where they do not have a nationality, the country of their former habitual residence) as a result of that characteristic.\n(See also section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc) Act 2004 (asylum claims etc: behaviour damaging to claimant’s credibility).)\n(3) Subsection (4) applies if the decision-maker finds that—\n(a) the asylum seeker has a characteristic mentioned in subsection (2)(a) (or has such a characteristic attributed to them), and\n(b) the asylum seeker fears persecution as mentioned in subsection (2)(b).\n(4) The decision-maker must determine whether there is a reasonable likelihood that, if the asylum seeker were returned to their country of nationality (or in a case where they do not have a nationality, the country of their former habitual residence)—\n(a) they would be persecuted as a result of the characteristic mentioned in subsection (2)(a), and\n(b) they would not be protected as mentioned in section 34.\n(5) The determination under subsection (4) must also include a consideration of the matter mentioned in section 35 (internal relocation).",
  "extent": "E+W+S+N.I.",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "I",
      "label": "I1",
      "text": "S. 32 in force at 28.6.2022, see s. 87(5)(d)"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2022/36/section/32",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T08:56:14.870435+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}