In this judgment, the CJEU examines the compatibility with EU Law, in particular with Directive 2008/115/CE, of a 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. The Court upholds that it is actually incompatible, because such a penalty risks jeopardising the establishment of an effective policy of removal and repatriation of illegally staying third-country nationals, which is the objective pursued by that directive. The reasoning of the Court does not convince completely, mainly because the same Directive, in its Article 2 (2) (b) states that in case of a criminal law sanction, provided by national law, Member States may decide not to apply the Directive.

Security and justice Immigration Return of illegally staying third-country nationals Prison sentence Area of freedom European union law and national criminal law

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