Article 16a – Right of Asylum

(1) Persons persecuted on political grounds shall enjoy the right of asylum.

 

(2) Paragraph (1) may not be invoked by anyone who enters from a member state of the European Communities or from another third country in which the application of the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the European Convention on Human Rights is ensured. States outside the European Communities that meet the conditions of sentence 1 shall be designated by a law requiring the consent of the Bundesrat. In the cases referred to in sentence 1, measures terminating residence may be carried out regardless of any legal remedy lodged against them.

 

(3) By a law requiring the consent of the Bundesrat, states may be designated in which, on the basis of the legal situation, the application of law, and general political conditions, it appears guaranteed that neither political persecution nor inhuman or degrading punishment or treatment takes place. It shall be presumed that a foreign national from such a state is not persecuted, unless they present facts giving reason to believe that, contrary to this presumption, they are politically persecuted.

 

(4) In the cases referred to in paragraph (3) and in other cases that are manifestly unfounded or deemed manifestly unfounded, the enforcement of measures terminating residence shall be suspended by a court only if there are serious doubts as to the legality of the measure; the scope of judicial review may be limited, and late submissions may be disregarded. Further details shall be determined by law.

 

(5) Paragraphs (1) to (4) shall not preclude international treaties between member states of the European Communities or between them and third states which, while respecting the obligations arising from the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the European Convention on Human Rights—whose application must be ensured in the contracting states—establish rules on responsibility for examining asylum applications, including the mutual recognition of asylum decisions.