EU directives entrenched in German law
Major amendments to asylum law in August 2007
Because Germany is a member of the European Union, its directives for the law on asylum are also relevant for this country. A total of eleven EU directives have been entrenched in German law with the Directive Implementation Act (Richtlinienumsetzungsgesetz), which entered into force in August 2007.The main amendments to the law on asylum emerge from the implementation of the Qualification Directive and the Procedures Directive.
Core elements of the Qualification Directive had already been incorporated into German law with the Immigration Act (Zuwanderungsgesetz): Anyone can now also be recognised as a refugee who is being persecuted by non-governmental players or on the basis of his/her gender. Furthermore, there are exclusion clauses for cases in which an asylum applicant who enjoys subsidiary protection has a criminal record. Subsidiary protection refers to a situation in which a foreigner’s asylum application is not recognised according to the provisions of the Basic Law (Grundgesetz), but he/she cannot return to his/her country of origin because he/she is for instance threatened with the death penalty or other existential dangers there.
In order to fully transpose directives, the requirements must be entrenched in national law. Hence, for instance, the prerequisites for recognition as a refugee have now had to be regulated by law. This includes the concept of internal protection: Could the asylum-seeker have found protection in another area of his/her home country ("domestic flight alternative")? There was also a need for clarification with regard to subsidiary protection: The offence of inhuman, degrading treatment or punishment was included here, as was a provision for cases of arbitrary violence in case of armed conflicts.
When transposing the Procedures Directive into German law, some rights of the asylum applicant were entrenched which largely corresponded to the practice already being applied. For instance, the asylum applicant also previously had to be informed of the status of his/her proceedings and of his/her rights and obligations. What was new, by contrast, was the obligation that was brought in by the Procedures Directive for instance to forward to the asylum applicant his/her decision and the information on appeals in a language which he/she could understand. If a positive decision is taken on the asylum application, the foreigner must also be informed of his/her rights and duties which emerge from his/her new legal status.
