Request for waiver of the immunity of Martin Ehrenhauser European Parliament decision of 23 October 2012 on the request for waiver of the immunity of Martin Ehrenhauser (2012/2152(IMM))
Date: 2012-10-23
Institutions: Committee on Legal Affairs, European Parliament
Subjects: Austria, Member of the European Parliament, criminal procedure, parliamentary immunity








CE2014068EN.01006101.xml










7.3.2014   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


CE 68/61





Tuesday 23 October 2012Request for waiver of the immunity of Martin Ehrenhauser
P7_TA(2012)0358
European Parliament decision of 23 October 2012 on the request for waiver of the immunity of Martin Ehrenhauser (2012/2152(IMM))
2014/C 68 E/08

The European Parliament,







—


having regard to the request for waiver of the immunity of Martin Ehrenhauser from the Vienna Public Prosecutor’s Office, forwarded on 21 March 2012 and announced in plenary sitting on 2 July 2012, in connection with an investigation procedure,










—


having heard Martin Ehrenhauser in accordance with Rule 7(3) of its Rules of Procedure,










—


having regard to Article 9 of Protocol No 7 on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union, 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 Article 57 of the Austrian Bundesverfassungsgesetz (Federal Constitutional Law),










—


having regard to the judgments of 12 May 1964, 10 July 1986, 15 and 21 October 2008, 19 March 2010 and 6 September 2011 of the Court of Justice of the European Union (1),










—


having regard to Rules 6(2) and 7 of its Rules of Procedure,










—


having regard to the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs (A7-0332/2012),










A.


whereas the Vienna Public Prosecutor’s Office has requested the waiver of immunity of Martin Ehrenhauser, Member of the European Parliament, in order to enable the Austrian authorities to conduct the necessary investigations and to take legal action against Martin Ehrenhauser;










B.


whereas the waiver of immunity of Martin Ehrenhauser concerns alleged offences related to illegal access to a computer system pursuant to Article 118a of the Austrian Penal Code (StGB), a breach of telecommunications secrecy pursuant to Article 119 StGB, unlawfully intercepted data pursuant to Article 119a StGB, unauthorised use of a recording or recording equipment pursuant to Article 120(2) StGB and infringement of Article 51 of the 2000 Data Protection Act;










C.


whereas under Article 9 of the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union, Members of the European Parliament enjoy in the territory of their own State the immunities accorded to members of their parliament;










D.


whereas, under Article 57(2) of the Austrian Federal Constitutional Law, Members of the National Council (Nationalrat) may only be arrested on the grounds of a criminal offence with the consent of the National Council – except where they are caught in the act of committing a crime – and searches of the houses of members of the National Council likewise requires the consent of the National Council; whereas further to Article 57(3) of the Austrian Federal Constitutional Law, no official action on account of a punishable offence may be taken against members of the National Council without the National Council’s consent unless that offence is manifestly not connected with the political activity of the member in question and, under this provision, the authority concerned must seek a decision from the National Council as to whether such a connection exists, where this is so requested by the member in question or one third of the members of the appropriate standing committee;










E.


whereas the immunity of Martin Ehrenhauser must be waived if the investigations against him are to proceed;










F.


whereas when Martin Ehrenhauser was heard by the European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs he stated that he believed his immunity should be waived;










G.


whereas the Court of Justice of the European Union has determined that ‘although the privileges and immunities have been granted solely in the interests of the Community, the fact remains that they have been expressly accorded to the officials and other staff of institutions of the Community and to the Members’ and ‘therefore the Protocol confers an individual right on the persons concerned’ (2);










H.


whereas Article 9 of the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union and Article 57 of the Austrian Bundesverfassungsgesetz (Federal Constitutional Law) do not preclude the waiver of the immunity of Martin Ehrenhauser;










1.


Decides to waive the immunity of Martin Ehrenhauser;










2.


Instructs its President to forward this decision and the report of its competent committee immediately to the appropriate authorities of the Austrian Republic and to Martin Ehrenhauser.






(1)  Case 101/63 Wagner v Fohrmann and Krier [1964] ECR 195, Case 149/85 Wybot v Faure and others [1986] ECR 2391, Case T-345/05 Mote v Parliament [2008] ECR II-2849, Joined Cases C-200/07 and C-201/07 Marra v De Gregorio and Clemente [2008] ECR I-7929, Case T-42/06 Gollnisch v Parliament [2010] ECR II-01135 and Case C-163/10 Patriciello (not yet published in the ECR).

(2)  Case T-345/05, Mote/Parlament, [2008] ECR II-2849, para. 28.