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Court of Kehl, Germany ( criminal proceedings against A) – C‑9/16

Country Germany
Status FINAL
Court CJEU
Relevant Law Article 67(2) TFEU; Articles 20, 21 and 23 Regulation (EC) 562/2006
Year 2017
Found for N/A

Preliminary ruling. The case conderned police checks at the internal borders of states in the Schengen area. CJEU explained that:
– Article 67(2) TFEU and Articles 20 and 21 of Regulation (EC) 562/2006 must be interpreted as precluding national legislation that confers on the police authorities of the Member State in question the power to check the identity of any person, within an area of 30 kilometres from that Member State’s land border with other States parties to the CISA, with a view to preventing or terminating unlawful entry into or residence in the territory of that Member State or preventing certain criminal offences which undermine the security of the border, irrespective of the behaviour of the person concerned and of the existence of specific circumstances, unless that legislation lays down the necessary framework for that power ensuring that the practical exercise of it cannot have an effect equivalent to that of border checks.
– However, CJEU also explained that the mentioned provisions do not preclude national legislation that permits the police authorities of the Member State to carry out, on board trains and on the premises of the railways of that Member State, identity or border crossing document checks on any person, and briefly to stop and question any person for that purpose, if those checks are based on knowledge of the situation or border police experience, provided that the exercise of those checks is subject under national law to detailed rules and limitations determining the intensity, frequency and selectivity of the checks.