You have the right to challenge the lawfulness of your detention and request compensation in a case of unlawful detention.
Complaint
When you are detained by the Police, you should be immediately informed of your right to challenge the lawfulness of your detention. You can challenge your detention if you are detained as an asylum seeker or as an irregular immigrant. You should submit your complaint challenging the lawfulness of your detention to an Administrative Court within 3 days.
If you are an asylum seeker, you can receive free legal-aid to prepare the application to the court.
What to write
When submitting your complaint, you should try to explain your situation, including all relevant facts, as well as the reasons as to why you believe that you should not be detained.
Compensation
If you wish to ask for compensation because you believe that your detention was unlawful, you should do this together with the application challenging your detention.
You can seek compensation for material as well as moral damages. Material damage is a material loss, for example a salary that you did not earn because you were unlawfully detained. Moral compensation may be granted for the humiliation and suffering you went through because of the unlawful detention.
Decision of a judge
A judge has to make a reasoned decision when considering the lawfulness of your detention. The judge must evaluate whether there were any grounds to detain you, bearing in mind the specific circumstances of your case. The decision must not be merely formal and generic. The judge should evaluate all the facts that the authorities have about you and are relevant to your situation.
Appeal
In certain cases, you can appeal the decision of the judge to the Supreme Court within 15 days after receiving the decision. The exact procedure and the time limits for the appeal must be indicated in the judge’s decision. Cases in which you can appeal the decision of the judge are listed in Articles 73 – 95 of the Administrative Dispute Act.