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We are here for you!
We are here for you!
The International Litigation Team files complaints before the United Nations Committees and the European Court of Human Rights in Switzerland and Beyond
Reach out to us individually or send an email to internationallitigation@asylex.ch!
What we can do for you
If you litigated through all national instances and the highest Swiss court rejected your request, an appeal to an international court might be an option. Reach out to us for further support with the evaluation of the case and the drafting of the submission!
Who we are
Our co-teamleaders are:
Greta Agliati (greta.agliati@asylex.ch)
Naïma Grünenfelder (naima.gruenenfelder@asylex.ch)
We are furthermore supported by Arianna Ortelli (arianna.ortelli@asylex.ch) who can also be contacted in case of questions / concerns.
To reach all of us at once, please write to: internationallitigation@asylex.ch / global@asylex.ch
Which Individual Complaint Mechanisms are available?
Unfortunately, Switzerland has not signed all Optional Protocols of the 9 core Human Rigths Treaties so that we could use all individual complaint mechanisms of the UN treaty body. However, Switzerland has accepted to receive recommendations and comments from the Committee against Torture (CAT), the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Committee on the Elimination against Discrimination (CERD) as well as the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Therefore, if your client has experienced torture, sexual gender based violence (SGBV), racial discrimination, or is a minor and suffered severe human rights violations, your case might be one to bring before one of these Committees!
Assessment: Is your Case a possible International Case?
If you have a case, which was rejected at the Federal Administrative Court (FAC) in Switzerland and thus, no further national complaint instances are available, however, you think that your client has suffered severe human rights violation in his home country or the Dublin state, which neither the SEM nor the FAC took sufficiently into account, following conditions must be met, to consider an international complaint:
All legal remedies on national level must be exhausted. This means there has to be a final decision by the FAC.
The case must contain severe human rights violations: This can involve violations of the best interest of the child, removals into countries where a person faces domestic violence, sexual violence, torture or inhumane treatment. Unfortunately, we cannot make appeals in less severe cases because we have to avoid negative precedents.
The severe human rights violations must have been (substantially) challenged before the SEM or/and the FAC. Ideally, the necessary UN Committee's and the respective articles were already mentioned within the appeal to the FAC.
If these severe human rights violations were not yet challenged at the national level, we recommend submitting a request for reconsideration first by challenging the severe human rights violation. Only when the case was again rejected by the SEM and FAC, we can possibly bring it before an UN Committee.
Please consider also our overview on what needs to be considered in order to bring a case before a UN Treaty Body. You can test your knowledge on this issue by filling out this Quiz.
First Steps of an International Complaint
If you come to the conclusion that the above mentioned conditions are met, you can prepare for the drafting of the complaint. To do so, please watch this video, use these guidelines and read through further documents within our GDrive folder.
Resources
What we aim to do Internationally
What we aim to do Internationally
With the international focus, we aim to expand our free legal services to other countries, with a focus on international litigation, in order to provide access to justice for refugees and asylum seekers worldwide and up to the international level.
Our Approach
Our vision is to provide access to justice for asylum seekers worldwide, especially those who have suffered serious human rights violations. Through international cooperation and information sharing, our mission is to promote the use of individual human rights mechanisms to protect the human rights of asylum seekers.
Our project started with a global research on asylum systems where over 80 countries were analysed. Thereby, 10 countries with favourable conditions were identified, which were examined more closely in a next step. South Africa and Belgium were identified as most promising candidates. In close consultation with the Steering Committee, a comparison was drawn up in which South Africa was selected as the target country.
How we work together
We have monthly Zoom calls, with all the team members and volunteers. These serves to briefly give updates on the progress of our work and provide a platform for exchange. We can answer questions and give each other feedback. Everyone is encouraged to point out any potential improvements or new ideas.
The project team and the volunteers are closely accompanied by the Steering Committee, which strategically oversees the project and supports it with expertise and inputs.
The Steering Committee is composed of the following members:
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