DECISION
In the legal dispute
xxx,
– Applicant –
Legal representative:
Attorney Sven Adam,
Lange Geismarstraße 55, 37073 Göttingen
against
Ilm-Kreis district,
represented by the district administrator,
Ritterstraße 14, 99310 Arnstadt
– Respondent –
The 5th Chamber of the Social Court of Gotha, through its presiding judge, Judge xxx, decided without oral proceedings on April 3, 2025:
The respondent is ordered by way of preliminary injunction to grant the applicant basic benefits pursuant to Sections 3 and 3a of the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act (AsylbLG) at standard benefit level 1 provisionally and subject to recovery from December 20, 2024 until a final decision is reached on the applicant's objection of December 20, 2024, but at the latest as long as the applicant fulfills the further requirements of Sections 3 and 3a of the AsylbLG and no restriction of benefits pursuant to Section 1a of the AsylbLG takes place.
The respondent must reimburse the applicant for the necessary extrajudicial costs.
The applicant is granted legal aid without installment payments for the proceedings from 20 December 2024 and, as requested, lawyer Sven Adam, Lange-Geismar-Straße 55, 37073 Göttingen is appointed as his legal counsel.
REASONS
The applicant, born in 1992 and of Afghan origin, is in dispute with the respondent over asylum seeker benefits according to standard benefit level 1 instead of 2.
He has been in Germany since May 14, 2024. He submitted an asylum application on May 31, 2024, and was assigned to the respondent on August 15, 2024. On October 18, 2024, the applicant moved into an apartment belonging to the respondent. This apartment consists of three rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, a hallway, a balcony, and a cellar. The apartment is occupied by a total of three people who have no personal relationship with each other. The apartment is used to house asylum seekers.
The applicant has been receiving benefits under Sections 3(2) and 3a of the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act (AsylbLG) since August 15, 2024. This was initially confirmed by a decision dated August 16, 2024, then, after the relocation, by a decision dated October 21, 2024, and finally by a decision dated December 19, 2024. The applicant filed an objection against the decision of August 15, 2024.
The applicant filed an application for preliminary legal protection on December 20, 2024, arguing that the standard benefit rate set for the respondent was unconstitutional.
He requests that:
1. The defendant be ordered by way of preliminary injunction to grant the plaintiff, provisionally and subject to the right of recovery, the requested benefits in the constitutionally compliant amount at standard benefit level 1 from the date of receipt of this application by the court, until a legally binding decision is reached on the plaintiff's objection of December 20, 2024 against the defendant's decision of August 16, 2024 (file no.: SA-6003.018716).
2. The plaintiff is granted legal aid with the appointment of lawyer Sven Adam – Göttingen.
The respondent requests that
the application be rejected.
In his view, the court must apply the law as the respondent intended and should not rule on its unconstitutionality.
The court heard the parties involved, in particular regarding the decisions issued in the meantime in Thuringia by the Thuringian State Social Court of 7 March 2025, file number: L 8 AY 111/25 B ER, the Social Court of Altenburg, file number: S 21 AY 1326/24 ER and the Social Court of Gotha, file number: S 6 AY 2181/24 ER.
II.
The admissible application is justified to the extent stated.
The legal basis is Section 86b Paragraph 2 of the Social Court Act (SGG), the requirements of which are met here. There is a right to an order and also grounds for issuing an order.
The 5th Chamber of the Social Court of Gotha also follows the relevant case law of the Thuringian State Social Court of 7 March 2025 (loc. cit.), agrees with the reasoning of the decisions of the Social Court of Altenburg and the 6th Chamber of the Social Court of Gotha (loc. cit.) and refers to the reasons of this concurring decision to avoid repetitive text.
The decision on costs is based on a corresponding application of Section 193 of the Social Court Act (SGG) and follows the outcome of the case.
Legal aid is granted in accordance with Section 73a Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 of the Social Court Act (SGG) in conjunction with Sections 114 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 and 121 Paragraph 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO). The required sufficient prospect of success for the non-frivolous application is evident from the above explanations.
The following is information on legal remedies.
