The judges of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled in its judgment of Thursday, 5 September, in case C-417/18 that telecommunications companies must transmit, free of charge, information enabling the caller to be located to the authority handling 112 emergency calls, even if the caller’s mobile phone is not equipped with a SIM card.
In 2013, a European citizen was murdered in Lithuania. Faced with the threat against her, she had—just before her murder—called 112 several times. However, the equipment in the emergency call answering centre did not show the number used, thus preventing her from being located. Moreover, whether or not the phone had a SIM card and why the number was not visible could not be determined.
Relatives of the victim have brought an action before the Lithuanian courts seeking an order requiring Vilnius to pay compensation for the non-material damage suffered by the victim and by themselves. They believe that the Lithuanian authorities have not properly implemented Directive 2002/22/EC (Universal Service Directive), which requires Member States to ensure that telecommunications companies make caller location information available to the authority handling 112 calls free of charge as soon as the call reaches that authority.
The Vilnius Regional Administrative Court then referred the matter to the CJEU for a preliminary ruling in order to determine whether this obligation is incumbent on States even if the telephone is not equipped with a SIM card and whether or not the Member States have a margin of discretion when laying down the criteria relating to the accuracy and reliability of the information on the location of the 112 caller.
In their judgment, the judges first reiterate that all 112 calls are subject to this obligation and that this, therefore, also includes those made from a mobile phone not equipped with a SIM card.
They then acknowledge that Member States have a certain margin of discretion when laying down the criteria relating to the accuracy and reliability of the information on the location of the 112 caller. However, these criteria must ensure, within the limits of technical feasibility, that the caller’s position is located as reliably and accurately as possible in order to enable the caller to be effectively located and, thus, the emergency services to intervene.
The judges then reiterate the criteria for holding a Member State liable for a breach of EU law before its own national courts on the basis of the famous Francovich and Brasserie du Pêcheur judgments of 1991 and 1996, specifically the existence of a direct causal link between the breach of EU law and the damage sustained.
Furthermore, they point out that the conditions laid down by national legislation regarding compensation for damage may not be less favourable than those applicable to similar domestic disputes. In this case, under Lithuanian law, an indirect causal link between the breach of the law and the damage sustained by an individual is sufficient to render the State liable. This criterion must therefore apply in this case.
See the judgment: http://bit.ly/2lxgMv1 (Lucas Tripoteau)