DECISION
in the proceedings
xxx
– Applicant and Respondent –
Legal representative:
Attorney Sven Adam
Lange, Geismarstraße 55, 37073 Göttingen
against
The State of Baden-Württemberg,
represented by the District Office of Schwäbisch Hall,
represented by the District Administrator,
Münzstr. 1, 74523 Schwäbisch Hall
– Respondent and Appellant –
The 7th Senate of the State Social Court of Baden-Württemberg in Stuttgart
ruled on March 26, 2025, by
the presiding judge at the State Social Court xxx,
the female judge at the State Social Court xxx and
the male judge at the State Social Court xxx
Decided without oral proceedings:
The respondent's appeal against the decision of the Social Court of Heilbronn of 23 January 2025 (issuance of a preliminary injunction) is dismissed as inadmissible.
The respondent must also reimburse the applicant's extrajudicial costs in the appeal proceedings.
The applicant is granted legal aid for the appeal proceedings with the appointment of lawyer Sven Adam, Göttingen.
REASONS
The appeal filed on February 21, 2025 against the decision of the Heilbronn Social Court (SG) of January 23, 2025 is already inadmissible and must therefore be dismissed.
Pursuant to Section 172 Paragraph 1 of the Social Courts Act (SGG), appeals against decisions of the social courts, with the exception of judgments and decisions of the presiding judges of these courts, may be lodged with the Higher Social Court, unless otherwise provided in this Act. The appeal is excluded, inter alia, pursuant to Section 172 Paragraph 3 No. 1 SGG, in preliminary injunction proceedings if an appeal on the merits would require leave to appeal. An appeal requires leave to appeal pursuant to Section 144 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 No. 1 SGG if the value of the subject matter of the appeal does not exceed €750 in an action concerning a monetary, service, or in-kind benefit or an administrative act directed at such a benefit. This does not apply, pursuant to Section 144 Paragraph 1 Sentence 2 SGG, if the appeal concerns recurring or ongoing benefits for more than one year.
The appeal is inadmissible under Section 172 Paragraph 3 No. 1 in conjunction with Section 144 Paragraph 1 of the Social Court Act (SGG), as neither the value of the subject matter of the appeal exceeds €750, nor are recurring or ongoing benefits for more than one year affected. The value of the subject matter of the appeal is to be determined according to what the Social Court denied the appellant and what the appellant is pursuing (see Keller in Meyer-Ladewig et al., 14th ed. 2023, SGG Section 144, marginal note 14) or – as in the present case – what was awarded to the respondent at first instance and what the appellant wishes to have overturned. In the context of the appeal proceedings for preliminary legal protection, a hypothetical main proceeding ("required") with a corresponding legal protection objective must be considered (see Senate decision of February 11, 2025 – L 7 AY 180/25 ER-B – sozialgerichtsbarkeit.de; Lower Saxony-Bremen State Social Court, decision of September 12, 2019 – L 8 AY 12/19 B ER – juris para. 10).
The respondent had last granted the applicant benefits pursuant to Section 3, Section 3a Paragraph 1 and Paragraph 2 of the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act (AsylbLG) by decision dated February 7, 2024, and specified these in the attached calculation system as monthly basic asylum benefits of 229 euros and a cash asylum allowance of 184 euros, corresponding to benefits according to standard needs level 2 in 2024 (see Federal Law Gazette 2023 I No. 288). In the contested decision, the Social Court ordered the respondent, upon the applicant's request, to grant the applicant provisional benefits from January 15, 2025, until a final and binding decision is reached on his review application regarding the decision of February 7, 2024, but no later than June 30, 2025, in accordance with Section 3a Paragraph 1 No. 1 and Paragraph 2 No. 1 of the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act (AsylbLG) – i.e., according to the standard benefit level 1 – taking into account benefits already received. The difference between the benefits granted to the applicant by the respondent and the benefits provisionally awarded to him by decision of January 23, 2025 pursuant to Sections 3, 3a paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act (AsylbLG) amounts to 44 euros per month – based on the benefit levels applicable in 2025 in the standard benefit levels 1 and 2 (see Federal Law Gazette 2024 I No. 325) – and a total of 242 euros for the maximum period of five and a half months awarded in the expedited proceedings.
Upon the applicant's application for legal aid, he is to be granted legal aid for the appeal proceedings pursuant to Section 73a of the Social Court Act (SGG) in conjunction with Sections 114 et seq. of the Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO), with the appointment of lawyer Sven Adam, since he cannot afford the costs of the proceedings due to his personal and economic circumstances and the appeal was filed by the respondent (cf. Section 119 Paragraph 1 Sentence 2 ZPO).
The decision on costs is based on a corresponding application of Section 193 of the Social Court Act (SGG).
This decision is not subject to appeal (§ 177 SGG).
