Germany began to return to the Russians cars taken from them by customs
[ad_1]
Russian citizens, who had previously been confiscated by German customs cars with Russian numbers, began to give property. Relocant Ivan Koval in Hamburg was returned the arrested Audi Q3 after the intervention of a lawyer and the transfer of the case from customs to the prosecutor’s office, which closed the case. Earlier, lawyers noted that customs officers referred to the EU sanctions regulations, which were interpreted too broadly, in fact equating imports with the import of cars for personal purposes. Prosecutors can review the decision of the German customs, but they did not see violations of the regulations in the entry of Russians into Germany in their car, the lawyer believes.
Ivan Koval, a Russian citizen living in Germany from Odintsovo, whose Audi Q3 was arrested at his house in June 2022 by the Hamburg customs police, was returned his property. On July 6, the Russian Embassy in Germany recommended that citizens “refrain from importing vehicles with Russian registration numbers into the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany.” The affected Russians were charged with violating the German Foreign Trade Law with reference to EU Council Regulation No. 833/2014 of July 31, 2014 “On restrictive measures in connection with Russia’s actions to destabilize the situation in Ukraine,” the embassy noted. Yes, Art. 3i of the regulation provides for “a ban on the sale and import into the territory of the EU countries of a number of goods (cargo), including cars (Annex XXI, code 8703)”.
After the arrest of the car, Mr. Koval, according to him, was charged with violating EU regulations, for which § 18 of the German foreign trade law “provides for imprisonment for a term of three months to five years.” Audi Q3 Russian a week before the arrest was registered in the customs of Hamburg as property during the resettlement.
Mr. Koval claims to know about 16 cases of confiscation of cars with Russian numbers, including in Lübeck and the German port of Travemünde.
According to him, after the arrest, he turned to a lawyer. She appealed the decision to arrest, as prescribed in the protocol. The case was transferred from the customs of Hamburg to the city prosecutor’s office. “The lawyer received a letter from customs that the prosecutor’s office instructed to return the car. Then a notification came from the prosecutor’s office that the case was closed, ”Ivan Koval told the details.
Lawyers previously interviewed by Kommersant notedthat customs officers interpreted Article 3i introduced in 2022 into the EU regulation in an excessively broad way. It was about the nuances of translating EU norms into German, thanks to which customs import (Import) was mixed with the simple import of cars, including for personal purposes (Einfuhr). Lawyers admitted that a broad interpretation of the norm leads to excess of the performer, and recommended to appeal against the confiscation of the car. However, representatives of the German customs at the same time made it clear that there were no difficulties in translation, explaining that the term “import” “covers any movement of goods and cargo.”
Kira Vinokurova, Co-Head of Pen & Paper’s Sanctions and Compliance Practice, says that when checking at the border, customs officers are obviously “the first line of defense” to prevent sanctions violations and are vested with broad powers, but their decisions are subject to review by the State Prosecutor’s Office . The expert recalls Art. 3i of regulation 833/2014: “In similar cases, the EU Council has already clarified that the import ban does not include the importation of goods for personal use. And this can hardly be called an activity that brings a significant income to Russia. Probably, the State Prosecutor’s Office proceeded from the same considerations and did not see a violation of the sanctions regulation in the entry of Russians into Germany in their car, and, accordingly, no grounds for confiscation.”
[ad_2]
Source link
