In a recent judgment, the Supreme Court of Finland (Korkein oikeus) ruled that, following a preliminary ruling, that a fine can still be imposed on the offence of leaving Finland 🇫🇮 on a pleasure boat to Estonia 🇪🇪 and returning to Finland 🇫🇮 again without appropriate travel documentation, but it must be a more proportionate one, in light of EU law.
This judgment, delivered in May 2023, followed the national court’s earlier reference for a preliminary ruling to the Court of Justice of the European Union in Case C-35/20, A (Crossing the maritime border between two EU Member State on a pleasure boat).
There, the CJEU had ruled that whilst Article 21 TEU, Directive 2004/38 (Free Movement Directive), and Regulation 610/2013 (Schengen Border Code) do not prevent an EU Member State demanding such travel documentation, they nonetheless, read in light of Article 49 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, cannot impose a criminal penalty, and that any penalty, such as the financial one in question, must be proportionate, given it was only a minor offence.
A summary of the judgment is available at the following link: https://lnkd.in/e_bbzGQ3
Graham Butler