Legal Expert Questions German Deportation Policy

If judges concur with a report issued by a legal expert at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg on Thursday, Germany may be violating EU law with its policy of deporting legal aliens who are convicted of committing a crime. The study dealt specifically with a Greek man who came to Germany at the age of 1972 and an Italian man born in Germany in 1977 – both were drug addicts and were convicted of several crimes. In a non-binding study, the court’s Austrian legal expert said Germany violated European law because it had not considered illness or family ties in making its decision to deport the men. The court is scheduled to make a formal ruling this winter.