EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 184/134

Wednesday 22 April 2009

Request for defence of the immunity and privileges of Aldo Patriciello

P6_TA(2009)0233

European Parliament decision of 22 April 2009 on the request for defence of the immunity and privileges of Aldo Patriciello (2008/2323(IMM))

2010/C 184 E/28

The European Parliament,

having regard to the request by Aldo Patriciello for defence of his immunity in connection with criminal proceedings brought against him before the District Court of Campobasso, of 11 November 2008, announced in plenary sitting on 20 November 2008,

having heard Aldo Patriciello in accordance with Rule 7(3) of its Rules of Procedure,

having regard to Articles 9 and 10 of the Protocol of 8 April 1965 on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Communities (‘the Protocol’), and Article 6(2) of the Act of 20 September 1976 concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage,

having regard to the judgments of 12 May 1964, 10 July 1986 and 21 October 2008 (1) of the Court of Justice of the European Communities,

having regard to Rules 6(3) and 7 of its Rules of Procedure,

having regard to the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs (A6-0196/2009),

A. whereas Aldo Patriciello is a Member of the European Parliament whose credentials were verified by Parliament on 15 June 2006,

B. whereas, according to the Court of Justice, the European Parliament and the national judicial authorities must cooperate in order to avoid any conflict in the interpretation and application of the provisions of the Protocol; whereas, consequently, where an action has been brought against a Member of the European Parliament before a national court and that court is informed that a procedure for defence of the privileges and immunities of that Member, as provided for in Article 6(3) of the Rules of Procedure, has been initiated, that court must stay the judicial proceedings and request Parliament to issue its opinion as soon as possible (2),

C. whereas, according to Article 10 of the Protocol, during the sessions of the European Parliament, its Members enjoy in the territory of their own State the immunities accorded to members of their parliament and whereas immunity cannot be claimed where a Member is caught in the act of committing an offence; whereas this does not prevent Parliament from exercising its right to waive the immunity of one of its Members,

D. whereas, therefore, the provision applicable to the case in question is Article 68(2) of the Italian Constitution, which allows criminal proceedings to be brought against Members of Parliament without any special formalities, given its provision that, without the leave of the Chamber to which the Member belongs, a search may not be carried out on either the person or the domicile of a Member of Parliament and a Member may not be arrested or otherwise deprived of his or her personal freedom or kept in detention, except to enforce a final conviction or where the Member is caught in the act of committing a crime for which arrest is mandatory in the case of flagrante delicto,

E. whereas, as it stands, the Protocol does not afford the European Parliament the means of taking binding action in order to protect Aldo Patriciello,

1. Decides not to defend the immunity and privileges of Aldo Patriciello;

2. Instructs its President to forward this decision, and the report of its committee responsible, immediately to the competent authorities of the Italian Republic.

(1) Case 101/63 Wagner v Fohrmann and Krier [1964] ECR 195, Case 149/85 Wybot v Faure and Others [1986] ECR 2391 and Joined Cases C-200/07 and C-201/07 Marra v De Gregorio and Clemente, not yet reported in the European Court Reports.

(2) Judgment in Joined Cases C-200/07 and C-201/07 Marra, at paragraphs 42 and 43.