Facts
S.S., originally from Kosovo, born in 1963, worked as a seasonal worker in the canton of Zurich from 1987 to 1991. On June 26, 1991, his seasonal permit was converted into an annual residence permit for gainful employment. In 1993, his wife R.S. and children A.S., B.S., C.S. and D.S. entered Switzerland and received residence permits under family reunification.
Due to an illness, S.S. was no longer employed from August 1995 onwards. His residence permit was last extended until December 3, 1997. By decision of March 17, 1998, the Foreigners Police of the Canton of Zurich rejected the applications of November 10, 1997 for the extension of the residence permits of S.S., his wife and the children, and set them a deadline to leave the cantonal territory. The Cantonal Government of Zurich dismissed the appeal filed against this on July 26, 2000.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court does not enter into the constitutional complaint. The administrative court appeal is the available legal remedy to assert a claimed legal entitlement to the disputed permit. For this, the person seeking legal redress must first turn to the competent cantonal court instance according to Art. 98a OJ before he can appeal to the Federal Supreme Court.
In cantons like Zurich, where the admissibility of the cantonal legal remedy depends on the existence of a legal entitlement, the person seeking legal redress can, if the cantonal court does not enter into the matter only because of the lack of the alleged legal entitlement,…