Greece - Administrative Court of First Instance of Korinthos, Decision no. Π2265/18, 27 September 2018

Facts:

The complainant was arrested on 11 June 2018, at the airport of Kalamata, for the use of forged travel documents in his attempt to travel to Brussels, as well as on charges of illegal entry and stay in Greece. The First Instance Court of Single-judge in Kalamata sentenced him to 7 months of imprisonment and a fine. Due to the existence of a criminal conviction, the Korinthos Police Directorate issued a detention decision on 8 August 2018 considering that the complainant is a danger to public order.

The complainant submitted objections against his detention before the Korinthos Administrative Court of First Instance. On 11 July 18 the applicant had also made an application for asylum, which was still pending at the time of the proceedings against his detention.

Decision & reasoning:

The Court ruled that, given the nature and the low level of severity of the offenses committed, detention for reasons of public order cannot be considered reasonable. Moreover, the Court noted that there is a pending application for asylum and the Korinthos Asylum Unit had issued an opinion which did not favour the detention of the complainant in view of his imminent transfer to another EU member state, in accordance with  the Dublin Regulation (EU) No 604/2013,.

Lastly, the Court referred to the complainant’s certificate of residence and concluded that the practical implementation of a future return procedure could be secured by an alternative measure.

Outcome:

Objections accepted. Withdrawal of the detention measure was decided and the complainant was ordered to appear before the local police authorities twice a week.

Observations/comments:

This summary was completed by Danai Spentzou, Human Rights LLM student at Queen Mary University of London.