State party response
The Committee’s decision was brought to the
attention of several authorities outside the
Government Offices, including the Director-Generals
of the Aliens Appeals Board, the Migration Board
and the Security Police, the Parliamentary
Ombudsmen and the Office of the Chancellor of
Justice. On 16 June 2005, the Swedish embassies in
Cairo and Washington were instructed to inform the
relevant authorities in Egypt and in the United States
of the Committee’s decision. The instructions were
implemented in August 2005.
In a bill to Parliament, the Government, on
26 May 2005, tabled a proposal for a completely new
Aliens Act and a number of consequential
amendments with regard to other acts (Government
Bill 2004/05:170). The main feature of the reform is
the replacement of the Aliens Appeals Board with
three regional Migration Courts and a Supreme
Migration Court. Parliament is expected to pass the
bill during the autumn of this year and the reform in
its entirety is scheduled to enter into force on
31 March 2006. In the proposal for judicial reform in
this field, security cases are defined as cases where
the Security Police - for reasons pertaining to the
security of the realm or to general
security - recommends that an alien is either refused
entry into the country or expelled/deported, or that a
residence permit is denied or revoked. According to
the proposal, the Migration Board will determine
security cases in the first instance. Appeals may be
lodged with the Government by the alien and also by
the Security Police. The appealed case shall be
referred from the Migration Board directly to the
Supreme Migration Court, which shall hold an oral
hearing and issue a written opinion. The case-file,
including the Court’s opinion, shall then be
forwarded to the Government for a decision in the
matter. If, for instance, the Supreme Migration Court
has come to the conclusion that there are
impediments to the enforcement of a decision to
expel an alien - on account of a risk of torture, for
example - the Government may not decide to expel
her/him. In other words, the Court’s opinion in this
respect is binding on the Government.
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