German Federal Court clarifies deportation authority

The German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has ruled on the jurisdictional authority regarding deportations in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The decision overturns a previous ruling by the Higher Regional Court of Rostock, which had held that local immigration authorities lacked the power to search apartments to apprehend individuals required to leave the country.

The Higher Regional Court had previously argued that under the Residence Act, each state must designate a central authority for deportations, which they interpreted as preventing local municipalities from carrying out such tasks. However, the BGH clarified that while a central authority must be designated, this does not preclude the state from delegating the actual execution of deportations to other agencies, such as local immigration offices.

The case involved a Vietnamese national who had been required to leave Germany since October 2024. The local authority had sought permission to search his residence to facilitate his removal, a request that had been initially rejected by lower courts before the BGH's intervention.