The Right to Asylum in Case Law – Do Croatian ourts Promote Higher Standards of Protection of Asylees and Asylum Seekers

Abstract

Pravo na azil zajamčeno je međunarodnim, regionalnim i nacionalnim pravnim aktima. Važnu ulogu u razvoju standarda zaštite tražitelja azila i azilanata imaju sudovi. Cilj rada je utvrditi promiču li domaći hrvatski sudovi međunarodne i europske standarde azilne zaštite te razvijaju li više standarde zaštite tražitelja azila i azilanata. Hipoteza rada je da hrvatski sudovi ne utječu značajno na razvoj standarda zaštite tražitelja azila i azilanata. Predmet rada su presude Upravnog suda i odluke Ustavnog suda. Analiza je izvedena pravnodogmatskom metodom istraživanja i tumačenja pravnih akata i drugih izvora prava te jezičnom analizom. Zaključuje se da hrvatski sudovi do sada nisu značajnije utjecali na podizanje standarda zaštite tražitelja azila i azilanata. Sudbena vlast mogla bi imati značajnu ulogu u daljnjem razvoju hrvatskog sustava azila pod uvjetom da sudovi iskoriste mogućnosti utjecaja koje im pruža njihov neovisni položaj i razviju više standarde zaštite tražitelja azila i azilanata.The right to asylum is guaranteed by international, regional, and national regulations. Courts, as a corrective of decisions and actions of administrative bodies, have an important role in the development of protection of asylum seekers and asylees. The paper aims at determining whether Croatian courts promote international and European standards of asylum protection and whether they strive to develop higher standards of protection of asylees and asylum seekers. The legal problem this paper deals with is the level of regulation of the Croatian law of asylum from the aspect of the Croatian constitutional law, which includes administrative and judicial discretional decisions, i.e. the interpretation of legal provisions regulating the law of asylum. From the legal-scientific perspective, the problem is the unsatisfactory knowledge legal science has about the abovementioned issues. The paper is based on the hypothesis that Croatian courts do not have a significant influence on the development of standards of protection of asylees and asylum seekers. It analyses Croatian legislation, specifically case law of the Administrative Court of the Republic of Croatia and that of the constitutional Court. The analysis has been done by using the legal-dogmatic method for researching and interpreting legal regulations and other legal sources, and by the method of linguistic analysis. It is concluded that Croatian courts have so far had a rather limited influence on the improvement of standards of protection of asylees and asylum seekers. The judiciary could have a more important role in the development of the Croatian asylum system provided that courts use the influence they obtain from their independent position and develop higher standards of protection of asylees and asylum seekers