In the last two months we were particulary intensively assisting with complaints against extensions of detensions. Pursuant to Art. 89 paragraph. 4a of the Act of 13 June 2003 on granting protection to foreigners within the territory of the Republic of Poland (hereinafter referred to as uuco), the Court does not extend the applicant’s stay if the proceedings for international protection have not been completed and the delay in these proceedings is not due to reasons attributable to the applicant . This provision requires that foreigners be unconditionally released from guarded centers after the statutory deadline, if the foreigner has not contributed to the delay in issuing the final decision in his case.
The statutory deadlines are:
• Art. 89 paragraph. 4a uuco: the foreigner must be released before the expiry of 60 or 90 days from accepting the application (depending on the date of its submission) if the 1st Instance Authority – the Head of the Office for Foreigners – has not issued a decision refusing to grant the applicant international protection, unless the delay occurred through the fault of a foreigner.
• Art. 89 paragraph. 6 uuco: a foreigner should be released from detention in a situation where the 2nd Instance Authority (Refugee Board) has not issued a decision upholding the negative decision of the 1st Instance Authority within 6 months.
Regional Courts, habitually at the request of the Commanders of the Border Guard, extend the detention of foreigners, contrary to the above-mentioned provision, despite its nature. The nature results directly from the justification for the amendment of the provision. Courts should release foreigners after 60 days if the foreigner has submitted an application for international protection before being placed in detention and 90 days if the foreigner has submitted an application for international protection during his stay in detention.
More about the legalization history and the nature of Art. 89 can be found on our website.
To our satisfaction, there is a noticeable change in the practice of extending the detention of foreigners. The District Courts began to correctly apply Art. 89 paragraph. 4a uuco, repealing the decisions of the courts of 1st Instance and releasing foreigners to open centers. There are also individual cases of rejection of the requests of the Commanders of the Border Guard by Regional Courts. We hope that such complaints will no longer be needed in the future.
Projekt realizowany z dotacji programu Aktywni Obywatele – Fundusz Krajowy finansowanego przez Islandię, Liechtenstein i Norwegię w ramach Funduszy EOG.
