Constitutional complaints (Verfassungsbeschwerde)Constitutional complaints (Verfassungsbeschwerde)
Petitions and submittal (Petitionen, Eingaben)
Hardship commissions (Härtefallkommissionen, HFK)
If all other judicial avenues of protest have been exhausted, the refugee has the option of making a constitutional complaint. Constitutional complaints have no effect of deferment. If the refugee determines not to leave Germany, then (s)he must submit, parallel to the legal action of the Bundesamt, an application for the re-establishment of the effect of deferment under § 80 VwGO.
The constitutional complaint must be received by the federal constitutional court within a period of one month dating from the issuance of the notice of rejection. The constitutional complaint is only valid if a breach of constitutional rights is apparent, and the threat of serious disadvantage exists. In such a case a lawyer should be employed.
According to article 17, 'the right to petition' (Petitionsrecht) of the Basic Constitutional Law, everyone has the right to plea or to complain to the relevant authorities and to the relevant parliaments. Petitions, for example, may be deposited with the municipal authorities, the mayor, the district assembly (Kreistag), the state (Land) parliament or the federal parliament. These authorities are duty-bound to examine the submissions and to respond in writing. Refugees also have the right to petition, but it must be remembered that there is no explicit assurance of protection from deportation. At the same time it is therefore necessary to submit the petition at the relevant offices, and where possible attempt to attain an assurance of a stay of deportation via parliamentary parties, groups or organisations, until a decision has been reached upon the petition.
If petitions are submitted then they should be handed in to the chief burgomaster (Oberbürgermeisterin / Oberbürgermeister) or district administrator (Landrätin / Landrat), and to the city-/town-/district- council (Stadtrat / Gemeinderat). Insist that the petition should be processed directly by the executive council itself in which it will be directly referred to, and not by any other executive panel. The petition should be formulated in the first person, and clearly and unequivocally signed by many individuals, organisations, groups and political parties. This has the effect of increasing the political substance of the petition. The press, radio and television should be informed.
Various actions, events, demonstrations should be considered and carried out. Signatures, opinions and statements of groups/organisations/parishioners should be collected and made public (e.g., an announcement or advertisement). If there is still some time before deportation an attempt should be made via political parties/groups, to make the deportation subject matter of a council meeting. In such a case the necessary contacts must be made. and the groups must be exactly informed so that the necessary formulation of an application within the council is possible. The object of such an action is a resolution of the council against the deportation. Previous experience has shown that mainly those petitions whose aim is a stay of limited duration, have a chance of success.
It must also be considered that even a positive decision of the council in favour of the refugee, is not legally binding.
An den
Petitionsausschuß
Landtag von....
(Address)
Petition
Sehr geehrter Herr Vorsitzender, (Dear (lady) president/chairman (chairwoman) etc.)
sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, (Dear Sirs)
ich/wir... reiche(n) hiermit eine Petition ein, da mir/uns bis zum.... die Abschiebung droht....
(I/we hereby submit a petition, as I/we am/are threatened by deportation as of...)
This should be followed by:
Name, address, petition for asylum submitted to..., duration of stay, reasons for flight from country of origin, present stage of processing, political situation in country of origin, individual grounds for fear of persecution, description of life in the FRG, comprehensive, general and current political information....
The committee for petitions of the Bundestag (Petitionsausschuß des Deutschen Bundestages) decides upon faults in the decision-making, or absence of parts, of the asylum process. The committee processes only submissions in writing. These written submissions may be addressed to the following authority:
Deutscher Bundestag - Petitionsausschuß
Bundeshaus
53113 Bonn
Tel.: 0228/16-2 27 67
The petitions committees of the state parliaments decide upon 'humanitary obstacles to deportation'. The addresses are as follows:
| State | Address of petitions committee |
|---|---|
| Baden-Württemberg | Landtag von Baden-Württemberg Petitionsausschuß Haus des Landtages Konrad-Adenauer-Straße 3 70173 Stuttgart Tel.: 0711/20 63-5 25 |
| Bayern (Bavaria) | Bayerischer Landtag Ausschuß für Eingaben und Beschwerden Maximilianeum 81675 München Tel.: 089/41 26-22 27 |
| Berlin | Abgeordnetenhaus von Berlin Petitionsausschuß 10111 Berlin Tel.: 030/23 25-14 70 |
| Brandenburg | Landtag Brandenburg Petitionsausschuß Am Havelblick 8 14473 Potsdam Tel.: 0331/9 66-11 35 |
| Bremen | Bremische Bürgerschaft Petitionsausschuß Haus der Bürgerschaft Am Markt 28195 Bremen Tel.: 0421/36 07-2 52 |
| Hamburg | Bürgerschaft der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg Eingabenausschuß Rathaus 20006 Hamburg Tel.: 040/36 81-13 23 |
| Hessen (Hesse) | Hessischer Landtag Petitionsausschuß Schloßplatz 65183 Wiesbaden Tel.: 0611/3 50-2 30 |
| Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Mecklenburg West Pommerania) | Landtag Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Petitionsausschuß Lennestraße 1 19061 Schwerin Tel.: 0385/5 25-27 11 oder Bürgerbeauftragter des Landes Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Lennestraße 1 19053 Schwerin Tel.: 0385/5 25-27 18 |
| Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony) | Niedersächsischer Landtag H.-W.-Kopf-Platz 1 30159 Hannover Tel.: 0511/30 30-3 10 |
| Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhine-Westphalia) | Landtag Nordrhein-Westfalen Petitionsausschuß Platz des Landtages 40221 Düsseldorf Tel.: 0211/8 84-24 19 |
| Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland Palatinate) | Landtag Rheinland-Pfalz Petitionsausschuß Deutschhausplatz 12 55116 Mainz Tel.: 06131/2 08-5 96 oder Bürgerbeauftragter des Landes Rheinland-Pfalz Kaiserstraße 32 55116 Mainz Tel.: 06131/2 89-99 43 |
| Saarland | Landtag des Saarlandes Ausschuß für Eingaben Franz-Josef-Röder-Straße 7 66119 Saarbrücken Tel.: 0681/50 02-3 17 |
| Sachsen (Saxony) | Sächsischer Landtag Petitionsausschuß Holländische Straße 2 01067 Dresden Tel.: 0351/49 35-2 15 |
| Sachsen-Anhalt | Landtag Sachsen-Anhalt Petitionsausschuß Domplatz 6-9 39104 Magdeburg Tel.: 0391/56 00 |
| Schleswig-Holstein | Schleswig-Holsteinischer Landtag Eingabenausschuß Landeshaus 24100 Kiel Tel.: 0431/56 09-3 24 oder Bürgerbeauftragte für soziale Angelegenheiten des Landes Schleswig-Holstein Adolfstraße 48 24105 Kiel Tel.: 0431/9 88-12 40 |
| Thüringen (Thuringia) | Thüringer Landtag Petitionsausschuß Arnstädter Straße 51 99096 Erfurt Tel.: 0361/3 77-20 50 |
Church asylum may be sought if all other legal means have been used up, and if the authorities wish to end the legal status of the stay, by cautioning with the impending threat of deportation and demanding the refugees departure.
Church asylum is the temporary accommodation of refugees within the buildings of a parish whose sole intention is;
In the first instance, the main issues are that deportation may result in the permanent separation of a family, or that through many years residence in another country a social assimilation and integration has taken place which cannot perhaps be resolved without severe detriment to the children born in Germany. Further, perhaps, by serious physical or psychological illness, the chance of medical treatment, therapy or rehabilitation having any real chance of success may only exist within Germany.
In the second instance, the danger to life and limb extends from the immediate danger of physical violence by the native state to the deadly implications of war and civil war, and to the mortally threatening effects of the lack of the fundamental and socio-economic basic rudiments of life.
The parish that grants church asylum desires no more than a temporary deferment, so that all legal, social and humanitarian points of view may be examined and all information considered and evaluated. Essentially, the parish wants nothing other than the full enforcement and implementation of that which is declared in the constitution, the core of which is the maintenance of human dignity. the individuals representing the parish must be prepared to bear full responsibility in such cases in which for reasons of conscience or morals a breach of one or more of the laws is apparent.
This would not necessarily call into question the state's monopoly of power. Further, it would not signify an assertion to premises within the authority of the church where the law of the land is inapplicable, but it would call into question the corresponding link between entitlement and the reality of state executive powers.
From the point of view of penal law, it must also be mentioned that the basic right of freedom of conscience according to the legal terminology of the federal constitutional court is provided for in the form of powers which set standard values, and therefore constitutional values, for the benefit of those acting out of conscience.
In legal terms, and under certain conditions, church asylum represents aiding and abetting in a breach of the Aliens Act. Despite hundreds of cases of church asylum in the last ten years there has not yet been a single penal judgement against the church. There has however been a few isolated cases of the use of force in arresting refugees in church premises, as well as the threat of fines against the church.
From 1989 until February 1998 church asylum was granted in Bavaria in 36 parishes (rural communes and/or townships) or abbeys and/or convents, where protection was sought (19 Protestant, 12 Catholic. parishes, 4 abbeys and/or convents, 1 free church). 22 cases of church asylum were officially made known to the public, and 14 cases of church asylum were carried out 'confidentially'. 106 people were admitted (57 Kurds, 12 Togolese, 10 Christians from Turkey, 5 Turks, 8 Bengalis, 6 Macedonians, 6 Kosovo-Albanians, 1 Ethiopian woman, 1 Indian).
Of these 106 people, 6 were deported. The deportation of all the others was successfully blocked. 3 persons were granted the right to reside in perpetuity, 4 were able to reside in perpetuity through marriage, 25 were granted a toleration of stay, 4 sought to evade deportation by moving to another German state, 14 departed to a so-called third-state, 7 'voluntarily' returned to their own countries, 7 refugees disappeared without trace, 37 people are still waiting in church asylum for a better future (25 Kurds, 10 Christians from Turkey, 1 Ethiopian woman, 1 Indian). Presently, February 1998, there are 9 cases of church asylum in Bavaria (source: Rundbrief des Bayerischen Flüchtlingsrats Febr. 98, Nr. 59).
A church asylum often becomes a lengthy, semi-legal residence (often more than 6 months), in which new alternatives or other routes for legal residence must continually be sought, and in which exists even more uncertainty than with an independent toleration of stay. By deciding which refugees at all are to be accepted into church asylum, political commitment and courage from the members of the parish as well as religious and confessional preferences towards the refugees plays an important part. Political commitment depends upon the individual experience of each individual priest/pastor/vicar and members of the parish and upon their contacts with refugee groups and their 'third-world-work'.
As the figures show, (some 100 refugees in almost ten years of Bavarian church asylum, in the North of Western Germany the situation is somewhat better), commitment is very reserved and reticent from both confessions of the German church, due to fear of conflict with the German state. Although, it may be that examples from US and Dutch parishes as well as the church in France where ecclesiastic resistance is better organised, are increasingly becoming more common in Germany.
Hardship commissions exist in Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia. They function as non government advisory committees. A hardship commission deals with applications from individuals whose permission to reside in Germany is threatened by foreclosure. The commission is not permitted to issue directives but solely to offer recommendations to the relevant aliens authority. An application to the hardship commission has no effect of deferment. A decree from the Minister of the Interior/Home secretary would mean however a request to the aliens authority to wait until the decision by the hardship commission has been made. Jurisdiction over the deportation remains however by the aliens authority. The recommendations of the hardship commission are not binding.
An important criterion for the hardship of the 'case' is, for example the level of integration. A measure of the level of integration is knowledge of the language, or school attendance of one's children, or a self-reliant job, suitable accommodation, participation in political or social life.
A total of 598 applications were made to the hardship commission of North Rhine-Westphalia. Positive recommendations were made in 18,7 % of the advisory cases.
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