Facts
The appellant, a man from Kosovo, entered Switzerland in 1981 and married a Swiss citizen. He received the settlement permit in 2001. However, the appellant had been involved in several criminal cases and was convicted in 2007 of intentional homicide to a prison sentence of four and a half years. The Office for Migration and Civil Status of the Canton of Bern subsequently revoked the appellant's settlement permit and expelled him from Switzerland. The appellant appealed against this decision, arguing that the revocation of the settlement permit was disproportionate.
The lower court dismissed the appeal and referred the case to the Office for Migration and Civil Status of the Canton of Bern, so that it could initiate the procedure for the provisional admission of the appellant with the Federal Office for Migration. The appellant then appealed to the Federal Court, arguing that the revocation of the settlement permit violated his rights to respect for family life and to a fair hearing.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined the appeal and came to the conclusion that the revocation of the settlement permit was lawful. The court found that the appellant had been sentenced to a long-term prison sentence and that this constituted a ground for revocation under Art. 63 para. 1 lit. a in conjunction with Art. 62 lit. b AuG.
The court also rejected the appellant's complaint that the revocation of the settlement permit was disproportionate. It found that the lower court had carefully examined the circumstances of the case and that the revocation of the settlement permit was not disproportionate, as…