The Constitutional Court has issued a potentially landmark ruling on passport withdrawal for Turkish dual citizens.
It started with a dataset which the FPÖ had forwarded to the authorities. It should be a Turkish „Voter Register“. The eligible voters listed in the elections in Turkey in 2015 were compared with those who hold Austrian citizenship. The consequence: 85 alleged double citizens became the Austrian citizenship withdrawn, in approximately 100 further cases the legal way is still open.
Almost all those affected filed an appeal against the withdrawal. But they were facing a problem, namely that their name was on the list. So they had to prove that they are no longer Turkish citizens – what they could not, because the Turkish authorities do not cooperate with such information with Austria. Now one case makes the list disappear as the basis for the withdrawal.
A person affected in Vienna should be deprived of his citizenship because his name was on the voter register, reports Die Presse. The man went to court – and was now backed by the Constitutional Court. He judged that the list was „not authentic and arbitrarily changeable“ and it was a pure guess that it was a voter directory.
The verdict is likely to have an impact on thousands of disqualifications pending in Austria, as the list has hitherto been the basis for this. Now, the list disappears and can no longer be used as a basis for deciding to withdraw. Which could mean that all procedures now go out in favor of those affected.
