Op-Ed: “The FO v Ministère public (Sanctions extraterritoriales) case : revisiting the territoriality principle” by Nuno Cunha Rodrigues

Last week, on 9th September 2021, the Court of Justice issued its judgment in the case Ministère public (Sanctions extraterritoriales) (C-906/19), a preliminary ruling concerning the possibility and limits for the imposition by a Member State of sanctions for road transport infringements in other Member States.

The French Court of Cassation submitted two questions to the Court of Justice: (a) whether the obligations on drivers under Regulation 3821/85 apply when vehicles are driven both on regular services covering less than 50km and on longer journeys, and (b) whether the infringing acts at issue could be subject to a prosecution in France even though they were committed in Germany.

Concerning the first question, the Court