Published on 6 February 2023

FOURTH SECTION

Application no. 44002/22 Strugurel Ion DIAN against Denmark lodged on 12 September 2022 communicated on 16 January 2023

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE

By a District Court judgment of 6 March 2019 the applicant, a Romanian national, was convicted of begging in a pedestrian street, under section 197 of the Danish Penal Code. Since he had previously been convicted of begging, he was sentenced to 20 days’ imprisonment. The judgment was upheld on appeal by the High Court on 11 November 2021. The latter found that the applicant was not in such a vulnerable situation that he had no other means of surviving than begging. Although there was no indication that he was entitled to social benefits in Denmark or Romania, so far he had been able to make a living by selling magazines for homeless people and getting deposits back from collected bottles. Moreover, he had been able to afford to return to Romania several times and, at the time of the crime, he was in possession of cash equal to approximately 130 euros. Leave to appeal to the Supreme Court was refused on 18 May 2022.

The applicant relies on Articles 8 and 10 of the Convention.

QUESTION TO THE PARTIES

Was the High Court judgment, which became final on 18 May 2022, in breach of Article 8 of the Convention (see, notably, Lacatus v. Switzerland , no. 14065/15, 19 January 2021)?