Obtain the decision and assessment report
A refusal of child protection must give reasons and state the available remedies and time limits. Keep the original decision, its envelope, the date and circumstances of delivery and any document concerning the end of emergency accommodation.
The person may ask the department for the social assessment report and the assessors' reasoned opinion. Starting checklist: full decision, report and opinion, notices, evidence of dates, current address, healthcare needs and any risk of homelessness.
Check how the interviews were conducted
Assessment must take place after a period of respite, in a language the person understands and with a neutral interpreter where needed. It must examine several aspects of the person's history, identity and isolation in conditions of neutrality and care.
A challenge should identify concrete problems: no interpreter, the wrong language, a reported misunderstanding, insufficient rest, confused dates, a shortened answer or a reason inconsistent with the report. A chronology comparing the interview, report and decision makes those problems easier to understand.
Present civil-status records and other evidence
A foreign civil-status record drawn up in the form used in its country is evidentially valid unless other records, external information or features of the document establish, after appropriate checks, that it is irregular, forged or inaccurate. Any challenge to the record should therefore be addressed through specific reasons.
Keep originals, translations, envelopes, school and medical records, family contacts and journey documents unaltered. Explain where each item came from, when it was received and any differences in spelling, transcription or dates.
Apply to the judge and address urgent needs separately
A child may apply directly to the children's judge under the educational assistance procedure. The application should state the claimed age, isolation, danger, departmental decision and available evidence. The appropriate court and requests still depend on the documents already received.
The age dispute and an urgent need for accommodation or healthcare are connected but may require separate steps. A lawyer can identify procedures that should be pursued in parallel. If the children's judge makes an adverse order, the child generally has fifteen days after notification to appeal.
Safeguards for bone-age examinations
A radiological bone-age examination is permitted only where there are no valid identity documents and the claimed age is not plausible, on the decision of a judicial authority and with the person's consent. A department cannot carry out the examination on its own authority.
The conclusions must state the margin of error and cannot by themselves determine whether the person is under 18. Doubt arising from that examination benefits the person. Age may not be assessed through examination of pubertal development or primary and secondary sexual characteristics.
Discuss your situation
You can send the firm the essential facts, relevant dates and any known deadline.
Frequently asked questions
Does an adverse assessment end every possibility of recognition as a minor?
No. Its effect and the available routes depend on the document received, the evidence and the person's protection situation.
Can a bone-age result alone establish that the person is an adult?
No. French law requires a margin of error, prevents a decision based on that result alone and provides that doubt arising from the examination benefits the person concerned.