Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 28 April 2011 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Corte d'appello di Trento - Italy) - Criminal proceedings against Hassen El Dridi alias Karim Soufi
(Area of freedom, security and justice - Directive 2008/115/EC - Return of illegally staying third-country nationals - Articles 15 and 16 - National legislation providing for a prison sentence for illegally staying third-country nationals in the event of refusal to obey an order to leave the territory of a Member State - Compatibility)
Language of the case: Italian
Referring court
Corte d'appello di Trento
Party in the main proceedings
Hassen El Dridi alias Karim Soufi
Re:
Reference for a preliminary ruling - Corte di Apello di Trento - Interpretation of Articles 15 and 16 of Directive 2008/115/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council 16 December 2008 on common standards and procedures in Member States for returning illegally staying third-country nationals (OJ 2008 L 348, p. 98) - Return of illegally staying third-country nationals - Conditions of detention for the purpose of removal - Direct applicability - National legislation providing for a sentence of up to four years' imprisonment for a third-country national who, after a removal order has been issued, continues to stay illegally in national territory
Operative part of the judgment
Directive 2008/115/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on common standards and procedures in Member States for returning illegally staying third-country nationals, in particular Articles 15 and 16 thereof, must be interpreted as precluding a Member State's legislation, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which provides for a sentence of imprisonment to be imposed on an illegally staying third-country national on the sole ground that he remains, without valid grounds, on the territory of that State, contrary to an order to leave that territory within a given period.
____________1 - OJ C 113, 9.4.2011.