Facts
On December 4, 1996, [D.], an asylum seeker from Zaire, arrived at Zurich-Kloten Airport with identity documents belonging to another person. The Zurich Airport Police denied her entry and booked a return flight to Zaire. [D.] then filed an asylum application and was detained in the airport transit area until her deportation on December 17, 1996.
[D.] filed an administrative court appeal against the decisions of the District Court of Zurich detention judge of December 10 and 20, 1996, in which he had not entered into her requests for release from detention. She requested a declaration that the detention in the airport transit area had been unlawful within the meaning of Art. 5 ECHR and that the detention judge of the District Court of Zurich was competent to assess the legality of the deprivation of liberty.
Considerations
The Federal Court decided that the detention of asylum seekers in the airport transit area for several days is generally a deprivation of liberty within the meaning of Art. 5 ECHR, for which a legal basis and judicial review are required.
The legal provisions in Art. 13c and 13d of the Asylum Act do not meet these requirements, in particular there is a lack of sufficient judicial review. The legislator must therefore take action and adapt the airport procedure accordingly.
Until a legislative amendment, the Federal Court has established the following principles:
- For the first phase of the airport procedure, i.e. until the Federal Office for Refugees issues the deportation order, the…