The checks on Austria’s border with Slovenia, which have been in place since 2017, were illegal, according to the Styrian Provincial Administrative Court – as a logical consequence of a preliminary ruling requested by the European Court of Justice on April 26.
The ECJ had already established that Austria had not been able to prove the serious threat to public order required for checks. Like the judgment of the Administrative Court, this applies to the border controls that were carried out from November 2017 to May 11, 2022 with the always identical justification of terrorism.
New arrangement since May 12
A new decree by Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) has been in force since 12 May, referring to the increased risk of arms smuggled from the war in Ukraine for the six-month continuation of border controls with Slovenia and Hungary.
Complaint from an affected person
The reason for this was a lawsuit brought by a person concerned. “The order given to the complainant to hand over the passport in the context of a border control under threat of criminal sanction was therefore unlawful without any legal basis,” the verdict reads. “The applicant’s fundamental right to free movement as a citizen of the Union has been violated by the exercise of authority.”
Ministry of the Interior must bear the costs of the procedure
The Administrative Court points out that “EU law should always take precedence over national legislation and that therefore relevant national legal provisions cannot hinder the free movement of persons in a specific case”. The Ministry of the Interior now has to bear the costs of the procedure for an amount of 1,659.60 euros.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
