Council of State
13 November 2013
Facts
The applicant, a prisoner, asked the prison administration if he could be transferred to another prison located in a region closer to his hometown. The prison administration refused, and the applicant appealed against this refusal to the Administrative Court, and then further to the Administrative Court of Appeal.
Complaint
The Administrative Court of Appeal rejected his appeal on the ground that the decision from the prison administration was an internal measure that could not be appealed to the judge. The applicant did not agree with this reasoning and decided to appeal against this decision further to the Council of State.
Court’s ruling
The Council of State ruled that the decision to reject a prisoner’s request to change prisons does not constitute an administrative decision that may be appealed to Court, except if the fundamental rights of the prisoner are at stake. The Council of State then found that the present decision did not violate the applicant’s right to a private life because he could not prove that he had maintained a private and family life in his region of origin. Indeed, he was single, had no children, and only a small part of his family lived in his hometown. The Court concluded that the decision of the prison administration did not affect the fundamental rights of the applicant in a way that exceeds the constraints inherent to his detention, and therefore such decision could not be challenged in court.