German checks on the border with Poland. The court decided after a complaint from a Pole and a German

Thus, the court agreed with the two applicants. As the court said in a statement, both the controls ordered by the ministry at the borders with the Czech Republic and Poland, as well as the contested actions against both complainants, were unlawful.

The Pole filed a complaint

The first complaint was filed by a Polish citizen who lives with his family in Goerlitz and visits the remaining family members living in Zgorzelec almost every day. He challenged the verification of his identity and the search of his minibus by the German police in September 2024, when after crossing the Old Town Bridge he was detained in Germany.

The officers demanded to see the document and to see the vehicle, which, apart from the bicycle, had no objects or people in it.

Complaint by a German citizen

The second complaint was filed by a German citizen living in Michendorf in Brandenburg, who travels to the Czech Republic several times a year, including: to friendly musicians.

He challenged the establishment of his identity in May this year, when he was returning from Prague by a replacement bus, which the German police stopped at a border control point. All bus passengers were subject to document verification.

The decision may be appealed against

The dispute concerned the compatibility of these checks with the Schengen Borders Code. The complainants argued that the controls that have been carried out for many years are not consistent with EU regulations because ordering border controls requires the sudden appearance of migratory movements, which cannot be determined with subsequent extensions of six months each.

The court in Dresden only ruled that the inspections were illegal at the time, and this did not automatically result in the right to compensation.

Due to the fundamental importance of the case, going beyond two individual cases of control on the German-Polish and German-Czech borders, the ruling of the court in Dresden may be appealed to the higher administrative court in Bautzen.