International Protection Act 2026
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Designation of provisional representative and appointment of representative | ||
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46. (1) Following a notification under section 45 (1), (3) or (4), the competent authority shall— | ||
(a) as soon as possible, designate an individual (in this Act referred to as a “provisional representative person”) or, subject to subsection (3), designate an organisation (in this Chapter referred to as a “representative organisation”) to provisionally act as a representative (within the meaning of the EU acts) for the unaccompanied minor who is the subject of the notification until an individual or organisation has been appointed under paragraph (b), and | ||
(b) as soon as possible and, subject to section 52 , no later than 15 working days from the date on which the application is made, appoint an individual (in this Act referred to as a “representative person”) or, subject to subsection (3), appoint an organisation (in this Chapter referred to as a “representative organisation”) to act as a representative (within the meaning of the EU acts) for the unaccompanied minor who is the subject of the notification. | ||
(2) The function of a representative organisation shall be to appoint individuals under section 47 to perform the functions set out in section 50 . | ||
(3) The competent authority shall not designate an organisation under subsection (1)(a) to be a representative organisation or appoint an organisation under subsection (1)(b) to be a representative organisation unless the competent authority is satisfied that the organisation— | ||
(a) is independent in the performance of its functions, | ||
(b) does not have any interests that conflict, or could potentially conflict, with the interests of unaccompanied minors, | ||
(c) is able to appoint an individual to be a provisional representative person in accordance with section 47 to perform the functions of a provisional representative person in respect of an unaccompanied minor to whom that individual is appointed, | ||
(d) is able to appoint an individual to be a representative person in accordance with section 47 to perform the functions of a representative person in respect of an unaccompanied minor to whom that individual is appointed, | ||
(e) is able to ensure that, subject to section 52 , a provisional representative person or a representative person is appointed in respect of no more than 30 unaccompanied minors at any one time, and | ||
(f) has sufficient internal governance and management arrangements in place to ensure that provisional representative persons and representative persons appointed by the representative organisation have the necessary qualifications, training and expertise to perform the functions of a provisional representative person or a representative person, as the case may be. |