Asylum procedures in Hessian courts significantly accelerated

The duration of asylum procedures in Hessian courts has fallen significantly within a year. The main asylum procedure at all Hessian administrative courts took an average of 13.7 months in the first half of 2026, as the Ministry of Justice in Wiesbaden announced. In the same period last year, the duration was 19 months.

“Our administrative courts are not only becoming faster, they are also handling more proceedings,” explained Justice Minister Christian Heinz (CDU). Compared to the first half of 2025, more cases have been processed this year. “The concentration of countries of origin on individual administrative courts obviously means that more proceedings can be completed,” added Heinz.

In addition, according to the information, the number of procedures received in main asylum procedures fell to around 4,000 cases in the first six months of this year (first half of 2025: 5,400 cases).

Concentration of proceedings in certain courts

In the summer of 2024, the first Hessian asylum chamber began its work at the Darmstadt Administrative Court. “The decline in the length of proceedings across Hesse is also due to the fact that they were almost halved at the Darmstadt Administrative Court,” explained Heinz. “The asylum chamber also contributed to this.”

Asylum procedures for people from so-called safe countries of origin are concentrated throughout Hesse at the Giessen Administrative Court. In addition, the Frankfurt Administrative Court has jurisdiction for the countries of origin Ethiopia and Eritrea, the Kassel Administrative Court for Iraq and Pakistan and the Wiesbaden Administrative Court for the countries of Iran, the Russian Federation and Somalia. “Thanks to the expertise at the respective locations, procedures can be processed more quickly,” explained Heinz.