Asylum Court

Until December 15, 2013, the headquarters of the Asylum Court in 1100 Vienna

The Asylum Court ( AsylGH ) was from 1 July 2008 to 31 December 2013 the charge of affairs of the asylum system Administrative Court in Austria. It replaced the previously existing Independent Federal Asylum Senate (UBAS). The legal basis for the Asylum Court were Art. 129c to 129f B-VG and the Asylum Court Act. On January 1, 2014, the Asylum Court was incorporated into the Federal Administrative Court as part of the 2012 amendment to the administrative jurisdiction .

tasks

The Asylum Court was basically the final instance in asylum proceedings. He recognized after exhaustion of the court

1. on notices from administrative authorities in asylum matters,
2. on complaints about violations of the duty to make decisions in asylum matters

organization

The seat of the Asylum Court was Vienna ; a branch was located in Linz . Most recently, the Asylum Court consisted of President Harald Perl, Vice-President Volker Nowak and 77 judges as well as the administrative staff (office staff and other employees). The Federal President appointed the members of the Asylum Court on the proposal of the Federal Government . All members of the Asylum Court had to have a law degree and have at least five years of legal professional experience. The members of the Asylum Court were professional judges. A total of around 270 people were employed at the Asylum Court.

Decision making

The decisions were mainly made in the two-part senate, in special cases, such as when no agreement could be reached in the two-part senate or with so-called fundamental decisions, the decision was provided for by a five-part senate; in certain simpler matters also by a single judge. The asylum seeker concerned could not appeal to the Administrative Court. However, the extraordinary legal remedy of the complaint for violation of a constitutionally protected right to the Constitutional Court was also provided for asylum seekers. If the Asylum Court was of the opinion that a fundamental decision should be made with regard to a legal question (not factual questions), the fundamental decision had to be submitted to the Administrative Court, which had to rule on its accuracy within six months. If the decision in principle was confirmed by the Administrative Court (this was to be followed if the Administrative Court did not decide within six months), it was binding for future similar cases. As a special feature, it was provided that a decision in principle had to be made on the application of the Federal Minister of the Interior , which, however, was not allowed to have any effect on the individual case, but the asylum seeker concerned did not have the opportunity to request a decision in principle. This caused numerous discussions in the legislative process.

Criticism and sensation in the legislative process

In the legislative process, there were numerous discussions and critical statements due to the future exclusion of the administrative court from being able to appeal to asylum seekers. The speech of the then Austrian Justice Minister Maria Berger (SPÖ) , who stated that she had concerns about the draft law and that she had not read the government bill, which she had co-decided in the Council of Ministers , caused a particular stir . This led to a dispute with her then government colleague, Interior Minister Günther Platter (ÖVP) . Finally, on December 5, 2007, the National Council decided to set up the Asylum Court. The law came into force on July 1, 2008.

Administrative jurisdiction amendment 2012

As a result of the 2012 amendment to the administrative jurisdiction passed in 2012, the Asylum Court was dissolved on January 1, 2014 and merged into a federal administrative court . The Administrative Court can again be appealed against against the decisions of the Federal Administrative Court.

Web links

• Homepage of the Asylum Court
• Government bill for the establishment of the Asylum Court and the course of the legislative process
• Legal proposal for the enactment of an Asylum Court Establishment Act and the course of the legislative process
• Asylum Court Establishment Act
• Article "Asylum Court powerful kick for the rule of law" from December 5, 2007 in the newspaper "Die Presse"
• Austrian asylum and migration law

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Federal Act on the Asylum Court (Asylgerichtshofgesetz - AsylGHG) , Federal Law Gazette I No. 4/2008 as amended.
2. ↑ ORF article on the dispute Justice Minister Berger and Interior Minister Platter ( Memento of the original from May 23, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.