Administrative detention
Held at a removal centre: administrative detention and how to challenge it.
Some foreigners who are subject to a deportation decision are held under administrative detention (idari gözetim) at a removal centre until the procedures are completed. This decision can be challenged; other obligations can also be requested instead of detention.
What is administrative detention?
The governorate (valilik) assesses the case of an apprehended foreigner within 48 hours at the latest and, if necessary, makes a deportation decision. An administrative detention decision can be made for people who pose a risk of absconding, who breach the rules on entry and exit, who use false documents, who do not leave the country within the time given to them, or who are assessed as a threat to public order. These people are taken to a removal centre within 48 hours.
- Maximum period
- 6 months
- Extension
- Up to 6 more months
- Review
- Every month
Detention cannot exceed 6 months. If the deportation cannot be completed because the person does not cooperate, or does not give correct information and documents about their country, it can be extended by up to 6 more months. The governorate assesses every month whether detention is still needed; if it is no longer needed, detention is ended immediately.
Challenging administrative detention
The person placed under administrative detention, or their legal representative or lawyer, may apply to the criminal judge of peace against the administrative detention decision. The application does not stop the administrative detention.
Application
A petition is submitted to the criminal judgeship of peace (sulh ceza hâkimliği). The law sets no separate time limit for this application.
Review
The judge concludes the review within 5 days. The decision is final.
New application
A new application can be made on the grounds that the conditions for detention no longer exist or have changed.
If you cannot afford a lawyer
People who go to court against administrative detention and cannot afford a lawyer’s fee are provided with a lawyer on request, under the provisions of the Attorneyship Law (Avukatlık Kanunu) (Art. 57(7)).
Let us read the detention decision together
The grounds of the decision determine how it can be challenged.
Instead of detention: alternative obligations
Instead of being held at the centre, or after detention ends, the person may be given one or more of the following obligations (Art. 57/A):
- Living at a set address
- Reporting regularly (signing in, imza)
- Family-based return
- Return counselling
- Community service on a voluntary basis
- A guarantee (teminat)
- Electronic monitoring
The total duration of these obligations cannot exceed 24 months. A person who does not comply with the obligations can be placed under administrative detention again.
Rights of the person at the centre
The law provides that the following are made available at removal centres (Art. 59):
- Access to and meetings with relatives, a notary, their legal representative and their lawyer; access to telephone services
- Meetings with visitors, consular officials of their country and officials of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
- Free emergency and basic health care for those who cannot pay for it
- Consideration of the best interests of children, and measures for their education
Visiting arrangements depend on the centre
Visiting days and hours, and the items that can be brought, depend on the centre’s practice and change from time to time. Call before you set off.
Last reviewed:
Frequently asked questions
Questions you may have
We were not given the administrative detention decision. What should we do?
The detention decision, the extension decision and the results of the monthly reviews are notified (tebliğ), with their reasons, to the person, their legal representative or their lawyer. If the person is not represented by a lawyer, the ways to object and the time limits must also be explained to them. It is hard to plan a way forward without seeing the decision; let us look together at how we can obtain it.
If a deportation case is filed, does detention end?
No. The case stops the deportation, but detention is a separate decision. Detention can be challenged separately, or an alternative obligation can be requested.
Can the phone of the person at the centre be examined?
The law provides that the electronic and communication devices of a person in detention may be examined in order to establish their nationality; it also states that this data cannot be used for any other purpose (Art. 57(8)). The person’s right to access telephone services is regulated separately (Art. 59).