CEDH · CASELAW;JUDGMENTS;CHAMBER;ENG — 1 décembre 2011

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font-size:6.67pt; vertical-align:super; color:#0069d6 }       FIFTH SECTION             CASE OF SCHWABE AND M.G. v. GERMANY   (Applications nos. 8080/08 and 8577/08)               JUDGMENT     STRASBOURG   1 December 2011   FINAL   01/03/2012   This judgment has become final under Article 44 § 2 of the Convention. It may be subject to editorial revision . In the case of Schwabe and M.G. v. Germany , The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of:   Dean Spielmann, President,   Elisabet Fura,   Karel Jungwiert,   Boštjan M. Zupančič,   Mark Villiger,   Ganna Yudkivska,   Angelika Nußberger, judges, and Claudia Westerdiek, Section Registrar, Having deliberated in private on 8 November 2011, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date: PROCEDURE 1.     The cases originated in two applications (nos. 8080/08 and 8577/08) against the Federal Republic of Germany lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by two German nationals, Mr   Sven Schwabe (“the first applicant”) and Mr M.G. (“the second applicant”), on 8 February 2008 and 11 February 2008 respectively. On 23   August 2010 the President of the Chamber acceded to the second applicant’s request dated 7 July 2010 not to have his identity disclosed (Rule 47 § 3 of the Rules of Court). 2.     The first applicant was initially represented before the Court by Ms   K.   Ullmann, a lawyer practising in Hamburg, and subsequently by Ms   A. Luczak, a lawyer practising in Berlin. The second applicant was also represented before the Court by Ms A. Luczak. The German Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mrs   A.   Wittling ‑ Vogel, Ministerialdirigentin , and by their permanent Deputy Agent, Mr H.-J. Behrens, Ministerialrat , of the Federal Ministry of Justice. 3.     The applicants alleged, in particular, that their detention for preventive purposes during a G8 summit, which had prevented them from participating in demonstrations, had violated Article 5 § 1 and Articles 10 and 11 of the Convention. 4.     On 30 November 2009 the President of the Fifth Section decided to give notice of the applications to the Government. It was also decided to rule on the admissibility and merits of the applications at the same time (Article   29 § 1). THE FACTS I.     THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE 5.     The applicants were both born in 1985 and live in Bad Bevensen and Berlin respectively. A.     Background to the case 1.     The authorities’ assessment of the security situation and the security measures taken during the G8 summit 6.     From 6 to 8 June 2007 a G8 summit of Heads of State and Government was held in Heiligendamm, in the vicinity of Rostock. 7.     The police considered that there was a threat of terrorist attacks, in particular by Islamist terrorists, during the summit. Furthermore, having regard to the experience of previous G8 summits, they considered that there was a risk of property damage by left-wing extremists. The latter were found to have planned to protest against, block and sabotage the summit. 8.     The police estimated that there would be around 25,000 participants at an international demonstration in Rostock on 2 June 2007, 2,500 of whom were ready to use violence, and that there would be around 15,000 demonstrators present during the summit, 1,500 of whom would be ready to use violence. 9.     On 2 June 2007 serious riots broke out in Rostock city centre, involving well-organised violent demonstrators, forming what has been termed a “black block”, who attacked the police with stones and baseball bats. 400 policemen were injured. 10.     According to a press release of the Mecklenburg-West Pomerania Ministry of the Interior dated 28 June 2007, some 17,000 police officers had been involved in ensuring that the G8 summit could be held without disruption and in protecting its participants from attacks by terrorists or anti ‑ globalisation demonstrators prepared to use violence. During the summit, 1,112 people had been detained in holding pens for prisoners ( Gefangenensammelstellen ). The courts had been asked to confirm the detainees’ detention in 628 cases; they had done so in respect of 113 individuals. 2.     The applicants’ arrest 11.     In June 2007 the applicants drove to Rostock in order to participate in demonstrations against the G8 summit in Heiligendamm. 12.     On 3 June 2007 at around 10.15 p.m. the applicants’ identity was checked and established by the police in a car park in front of Waldeck prison, where they were standing next to a van in the company of seven other people. No other people were present in the car park. The police submitted that the first applicant had physically resisted the identity check. He had allegedly hit the arms of a policeman who had attempted to determine the second applicant’s identity. He had also kicked another policeman’s shin in order to prevent his own identity from being determined. The applicants submitted that the second applicant had himself been hit by the police, although he had already been holding his identity card in his hand ready for inspection. The police searched the van and found folded-up banners bearing the inscriptions “Freedom for all prisoners” and “Free all now”. The applicants were arrested. It appears that the banners found were seized. B.     The proceedings at issue 1.     The proceedings before the District Court 13.     In two separate decisions taken on 4 June 2007 at 4.20 a.m. and 4   a.m. respectively, the Rostock District Court, having examined both applicants in person, ordered their detention ( amtlicher Gewahrsam ) until 9   June 2007, 12 noon at the latest. 14.     Relying on section 55(1), paragraph 2(a), and section 56(5) of the Mecklenburg-West Pomerania Public Security and Order Act ( Gesetz über die öffentliche Sicherheit und Ordnung in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern – “the PSOA”, see paragraphs 37-38 below), the District Court found that the applicants’ detention had been lawful in order to prevent the imminent commission or continuation of a criminal offence. As the applicants had been found in front of Waldeck prison in a van in which objects calling for the liberation of prisoners had been discovered, it had to be assumed that they had been about to commit or aid and abet a criminal offence. 15.     The District Court further found that the applicants’ continued detention was indispensable and proportionate. At the hearing, both applicants had given the impression that they had intended to proceed with committing an offence. As they had not made any statements or submissions on the merits, they had been unable to justify their conduct. 2.     The proceedings before the Regional Court 16.     On 4 June 2007 the Rostock Regional Court, in two separate decisions, dismissed appeals ( sofortige Beschwerde ) lodged by the first and second applicants. 17.     The Regional Court confirmed the District Court’s finding that the applicants’ arrest had been lawful under section 55(1), paragraph 2 (a), of the PSOA. As the applicants had been found in the vicinity of Waldeck prison in possession of banners with an imperative wording (“free”), they had intended to incite others to free prisoners and that constituted an offence. Moreover, having regard to the material in the case file, the first applicant had obstructed police officers in the exercise of their duties. The second applicant, for his part, had been charged with dangerous interference with rail traffic in 2002 in connection with the transport of “castor” [1] containers. The Regional Court further agreed with the District Court’s reasoning to the effect that the continuation of the applicants’ detention was indispensable and proportionate. 3.     The proceedings before the Court of Appeal 18.     On 7 June 2007 the Rostock Court of Appeal dismissed further appeals ( sofortige weitere Beschwerde ) subsequently brought by the applicants. In their appeals, the applicants, represented by counsel, had submitted that the slogans on the banners had been addressed to the police and the authorities, urging them to end the numerous arrests and detentions of demonstrators. They had not been meant to call upon others to attack prisons and to free prisoners by force, an interpretation which had to be considered far-fetched, given that there had not been any violent liberation of detainees from German prisons in recent decades. 19.     The Court of Appeal upheld the lower courts’ finding that the requirements of section 55(1), paragraph 2(a), of the PSOA had been met. The applicants’ arrest and continued detention was indispensable in order to avert a danger to public security and order. The banner “Free all now”, together with the banner “Freedom for all prisoners”, could be understood as an incitement to liberate prisoners, an offence under Article 120 of the Criminal Code (see paragraph 41 below). The police had been entitled to assume that the applicants had intended to drive to Rostock and display the banners at the partly violent demonstrations there. As a result, a crowd which had been ready to use violence might have been incited to liberate people who had been arrested and detained. 20.     In respect of the second applicant, the requirements of section 55(1), paragraph   2(c), of the PSOA (see paragraph 37 below) had also been met. The second applicant had been arrested in 2002 in comparable circumstances on suspicion of dangerous interference with rail traffic in connection with the transport of castor containers. It was irrelevant whether he had subsequently been convicted. 21.     The applicants had not contested the courts’ conclusions; they had not made any statements or submissions on the merits. The police had been obliged to take into consideration the general security situation in Rostock on 2 and 3 June 2007. On those days, very violent clashes between demonstrators and the police had taken place in the city centre. Moreover, the applicants had proved to be prone to violence themselves by attacking police officers. 22.     The Court of Appeal further considered that the applicants’ right to freedom of expression under the Basic Law did not warrant a different conclusion. It accepted that the slogans on the banners could be understood in different ways. However, in the tense situation in and around Rostock the police had been authorised to prevent ambiguous declarations which could have lead to a risk to public security and order. 23.     Furthermore, the duration of the applicants’ detention was proportionate. According to a report by the Rostock police of 6 June 2007, between 6,000 and 10,000 anti-globalisation activists, some of whom were very violent, were moving towards Heiligendamm and were calling for an “attack on the embankment”. It could not be ruled out that the applicants would have participated in those demonstrations with the banners and would thus have incited other demonstrators to liberate prisoners. 4.     The proceedings before the Federal Constitutional Court 24.     On 6 June 2007 both applicants lodged a constitutional complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court and applied for an interim injunction ordering their immediate release. 25.     The applicants complained that their detention had violated, in particular, their right to liberty and their right to freedom of expression. The second applicant further submitted that his detention had been in breach of his right to freedom of assembly. Both applicants argued that it had been far-fetched to interpret the slogans on the banners as inciting other demonstrators to attack prisons and to liberate prisoners. The banners had been addressed to the police, who had already arrested many anti ‑ globalisation activists, to the participants in the G8 summit and to the public in general, and had not advocated acts of violence. The applicants further stressed that they did not have any previous convictions. The second applicant submitted, in particular, that the criminal proceedings against him for dangerous interference with rail traffic had been discontinued. 26.     These complaints were initially registered under file nos.   2   BvR   1195/07 and 2 BvR 1196/07. On 8 June 2007 the reporting judge at the Federal Constitutional Court informed the applicants’ representatives by telephone that the Federal Constitutional Court would not take a decision on the applicants’ request for interim measures. 27.     On 9 June 2007 at 12 noon the applicants were released from prison. 28.     The applicants’ constitutional complaints of 6 June 2007 were then considered to have become devoid of purpose following their release. 29.     On 6 July 2007 the applicants asked the Constitutional Court to find that their detention had been unconstitutional, despite the fact that they had been released in the meantime. Thereupon, their constitutional complaints were registered anew (files nos. 2 BvR 1521/07 and 2 BvR 1520/07). 30.     On 6 August 2007 the Federal Constitutional Court, in two separate decisions, declined to consider the first and second applicants’ constitutional complaints, without giving reasons (file nos. 2 BvR 1521/07 and 2 BvR 1520/07). 31.     The decision was served on the first applicant’s counsel on 14   August 2007 and on the second applicant’s counsel on 13 August 2007. C.     Subsequent developments 32.     The criminal proceedings instituted against the first applicant for having obstructed public officers in the exercise of their duties ( Widerstand gegen Vollstreckungsbeamte ) in the course of the identity check on 3 June 2007 were discontinued, in exchange for the first applicant paying 200 euros (EUR). The criminal proceedings against the second applicant for the same offence were discontinued on grounds of insignificance. 33.     The applicants submitted that one of the police officers involved in their arrest had later been convicted of causing bodily harm while discharging public duties in relation to a different matter. They submitted that the proceedings were still pending before the appellate court. The Government did not comment on that point. 34.     No criminal proceedings were brought against the applicants for having incited others to free prisoners. 35.     On 20 December 2007 the Rostock Court of Appeal dismissed the applicants’ complaints of a violation of their right to be heard. 36.     On 1 May 2008 the Federal Constitutional Court declined to consider the first applicant’s fresh constitutional complaint (file no.   2   BvR   538/08) and on 3 May 2008 it declined to consider the second applicant’s fresh constitutional complaint (file no. 2 BvR 164/08). In their complaints the applicants had relied, in particular, on their rights to liberty, to freedom of expression and to freedom of assembly. II.     RELEVANT DOMESTIC LAW A.     The Mecklenburg-West Pomerania Public Security and Order Act (“the PSOA”) 37.     Section 55(1) of the PSOA, in so far as relevant, provides: “A person may only be detained if: 1.     ... ; 2.     this is indispensable in order to prevent the imminent commission or continuation of a criminal offence; the assumption that a person will commit or aid and abet such an offence may be based, in particular, on the fact that (a)     he or she has announced or incited the commission of the offence or carries banners or other items containing such incitement; ... (c)     he or she has been apprehended in the past on comparable grounds as a person involved in the commission of offences, and if facts warrant the conclusion that a repetition of this conduct is to be expected ...” 38.     Section 56(5) of the PSOA provides that if the police take a person into custody, they must immediately obtain a judicial decision on the lawfulness and continuation of the detention. The judicial decision must set a maximum duration of detention, which may not exceed ten days in cases governed by section 55(1), paragraph 2. The District Court in the district in which the person concerned was arrested has jurisdiction to take the decision. 39.     Under section 52 of the PSOA, the authorities may order a person to leave a place or prohibit a person from going to a specific place ( Platzverweisung ) in order to avert a real danger. If the facts warrant the conclusion that the person will commit an offence in a specific area, the person may be prohibited from entering that area for up to ten weeks. 40.     Under section 61(1) of the PSOA, an item may only be seized in order to avert an imminent danger to public security or order (paragraph 1) or if the facts warrant the conclusion that it might be used in order to commit a criminal or regulatory offence (paragraph 4). B.     The Criminal Code 41.     Section 120(1) of the Criminal Code provides that anyone who frees a prisoner or incites or helps him to escape is to be punished by imprisonment of up to three years or a fine. Subsection 3 of section 120 provides that an attempt to commit such an offence is also punishable. C.     The Code of Criminal Procedure 42.     Sections 112 et seq. of the Code of Criminal Procedure concern pre ‑ trial detention. Pursuant to Section 112(1) of the Code, a defendant may be remanded in custody if there is a strong suspicion that he has committed a criminal offence and if there are grounds for arresting him. Pre-trial detention may not be ordered if it is disproportionate to the importance of the case and to the penalty or measure of correction and prevention expected to be imposed. THE LAW I.     JOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS 43.     Given that the present two applications concern two sets of proceedings in which the same subject matter – namely, the applicants’ detention for preventive purposes during the 2007 G8 summit in Heiligendamm – was at issue, the Court decides that the applications should be joined (Rule 42 § 1 of the Rules of Court). II.     ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 5 § 1 OF THE CONVENTION 44.     The applicants complained that their detention for preventive purposes during the G8 summit had violated Article 5 § 1 of the Convention, which, in so far as relevant, reads as follows: “Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be deprived of his liberty save in the following cases and in accordance with a procedure prescribed by law: (a)     the lawful detention of a person after conviction by a competent court; (b)     the lawful arrest or detention of a person for non-compliance with the lawful order of a court or in order to secure the fulfilment of any obligation prescribed by law; (c)     the lawful arrest or detention of a person effected for the purpose of bringing him before the competent legal authority on reasonable suspicion of having committed an offence or when it is reasonably considered necessary to prevent his committing an offence or fleeing after having done so; ...” 45.     The Government contested that argument. A.     Admissibility 46.     The Government took the view that the applicants had failed to exhaust domestic remedies as required by Article 35 § 1 of the Convention. They had not brought an action for compensation for their allegedly illegal detention under Article 5 § 5 of the Convention before the German courts prior to lodging their applications with the Court. The Government conceded that the applicants had utilised all existing remedies concerning their detention. Their primary aim – to obtain their release from prison – had, however, become devoid of purpose after their release on 9 June 2007. Afterwards, they could only have obtained compensation from the State. 47.     The applicants contested that view. They had complained that their detention had breached their fundamental rights, both in the proceedings before the Rostock courts concerning the lawfulness of their detention and before the Federal Constitutional Court. Proceedings for damages in the civil courts would not have had a sufficiently wide scope and would not have been an effective remedy that could have been used to obtain a speedy decision on the lawfulness of their detention and to obtain their release if the detention was not lawful. Moreover, bringing a compensation claim after the detention had been considered lawful by the Rostock courts in the proceedings at issue would not have had any prospects of success. There was not a single case in which the civil courts, in compensation proceedings, had not followed a previous ruling of the courts deciding on the lawfulness of a person’s detention. In these circumstances, the applicants had not been obliged to use another remedy in addition to the proceedings they had brought contesting the lawfulness of their detention. 48.     The Court reiterates that the rule of exhaustion of domestic remedies referred to in Article 35 § 1 of the Convention obliges applicants to first use the remedies that are normally available and sufficient in the domestic legal system to enable them to obtain redress for the breaches alleged (see, inter alia , Akdivar and Others v. Turkey , 16 September 1996, § 66, Reports of Judgments and Decisions 1996 ‑ IV, and Aksoy v. Turkey , 18 December 1996, § 52, Reports 1996-VI). 49.     Under the Convention institutions’ well-established case-law, where lawfulness of detention is concerned, an action for damages against the State is not a remedy which has to be used, because the right to have the lawfulness of detention examined by a court and the right to obtain compensation for any deprivation of liberty incompatible with Article 5 are two separate rights (see, inter alia , Włoch v. Poland , no. 27785/95, § 90, ECHR 2000 ‑ XI; Belchev v. Bulgaria (dec.), no. 39270/98, 6 February 2003; and Khadisov and Tsechoyev v. Russia , no. 21519/02, § 151, 5 February 2009, with further references). Paragraph 1 of Article 5 of the Convention covers the former right and paragraph 5 of Article 5 the latter (see Khadisov and Tsechoyev , cited above, § 151). 50.     The Court notes that the applicants complained before it that their detention for preventive purposes during a G8 summit had violated Article 5 § 1 and that they had previously contested the lawfulness of the detention order before all competent domestic courts. Having regard to the Court’s case-law, they thereby exhausted domestic remedies for the purposes of their complaint under Article 5 § 1. The Government’s objection of non ‑ exhaustion must therefore be dismissed. 51.     The Court further notes that this complaint is not manifestly ill ‑ founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 (a) of the Convention. It further notes that it is not inadmissible on any other grounds. It must therefore be declared admissible. B.     Merits 1.     The parties’ submissions (a)     The applicants 52.     The applicants argued that their detention from 3 to 9 June 2007 had violated Article 5 § 1 of the Convention. It had not been justified under any of the sub-paragraphs of that provision. 53.     The applicants submitted, in particular, that their detention had not been justified under sub-paragraph (c) of Article 5 § 1, as that provision did not authorise a purely preventive deprivation of liberty. They had not been detained in connection with criminal proceedings, as required by that provision as interpreted in the Court’s case-law (they referred, inter alia , to Ječius v. Lithuania , no. 34578/97, § 50, ECHR 2000 ‑ IX). This was proved by the fact that their detention had not been based on section 112 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which concerned remand in custody (see paragraph 42 above). On the contrary, the courts had based their detention on sections 55 and 56 of the Mecklenburg-West Pomerania Public Security and Order Act (“the PSOA”), which governed detention for preventive purposes without any link to criminal proceedings. 54.     Moreover, the applicants argued that the aim of their detention had not been to bring them promptly before a judge and to try them for potential, future offences, as required by Article 5 § 3, read in conjunction with Article 5 § 1 (c). Nor could their detention have been reasonably considered necessary to prevent their committing an offence within the meaning of the second alternative of Article 5 § 1 (c). Their potential offences had not been sufficiently outlined with a reasonable degree of specificity as regards, in particular, the place and time of their commission and their victims, as required by the Court’s case-law (they cited, inter alia , M. v. Germany , no.   19359/04, § 102, ECHR 2009). 55.     The applicants further submitted that their detention had not been justified under sub-paragraph (b) of Article 5 § 1 either. There had not been any court order that the applicants had failed to comply with. There had also not been any obligation incumbent on them which they had not fulfilled. Even if they had displayed the banners seized in the van, they would not have committed an offence. 56.     In the applicants’ submission, their detention had also not met the requirements of sub-paragraph (a) of Article 5 § 1 in the absence of a “conviction”. 57.     Furthermore, in the applicants’ view, their detention had not been “lawful” as required by Article 5 § 1. Section 55(1) of the PSOA, on which their detention had been based, had not been sufficiently precise to make it foreseeable to them that they faced detention for their conduct. Furthermore, that provision had not been applied correctly. There had been nothing to indicate that the applicants had been about to commit a specific offence at a given time and place. Even assuming, contrary to the fact that the applicants had themselves been hit by the police officers, that the first applicant had hit the arm and kicked the shin of a police officer, this had not warranted the conclusion that both applicants had been about to commit another completely different offence, the liberation of prisoners by force. In any event, even if the applicants had displayed the banners, this would not have been illegal. Their inscriptions had not advocated violence or harm to anyone. The applicants stressed in that connection that their lawyers had explained the different meaning attributable to the slogans on the banners, both at the hearing before the Regional Court and in their written statement of further appeal. 58.     Moreover, the applicants’ detention had also not been indispensable to prevent the imminent liberation of prisoners by force or the incitement of others to do so. There had been nothing to indicate that the applicants, who had not had any tools on them that could have been used to free prisoners, had been about to attack Waldeck prison, which was a high-security institution. There had not been any crowd of people present in the car park who could have been incited to liberate detainees in that prison by force. The assumption that the applicants might have displayed the banners at an unspecified demonstration, possibly attended by individuals prepared to use violence, could not be considered a sufficient ground for presuming that an offence was about to be committed, as required by section 55(1), paragraph   2, of the PSOA. The applicants further submitted that, contrary to the Government’s submissions, none of the domestic courts had suggested that the applicants had intended to liberate prisoners by force themselves. The courts had only stated that there was reason to believe that the applicants had intended to incite others to do so. 59.     The applicants’ detention had also been arbitrary, in that it had not been necessary to achieve the aim pursued. The police could simply have ordered the applicants not to enter the area in which the G8 demonstrations had taken place under section 52 of the PSOA (see paragraph 39 above). Alternatively, they could also have seized the banners under section 61 of the PSOA (see paragraph 40 above). The applicants would then have been aware that the police considered the slogans illegal. In view of the chilling effect of such a police measure, it ought not to be assumed that the applicants would have reproduced and used similar banners, as was claimed by the Government. As there had not been further violent demonstrations during the whole week of the G8 summit, the applicants’ detention for six days had been disproportionate. They further noted in that connection that the seven Belarusian individuals also present in the van when the applicants had been arrested and to whom the banners could also have belonged had not been arrested and detained. (b)     The Government 60.     The Government took the view that the applicants’ detention had complied with Article 5 § 1 of the Convention. It had been justified under the second alternative of sub-paragraph (c) of Article 5 § 1 as detention reasonably considered necessary to prevent the applicants from committing an offence. 61.     The Government contested the applicants’ assertion that detention for preventive purposes was only authorised under Article 5 § 1 (c) of the Convention in connection with criminal proceedings. The applicants’ detention had not been effected in connection with criminal proceedings and the preparatory acts they had undertaken with a view to freeing prisoners by force or inciting others to do so had not been punishable. Under the wording of Article 5 §   1   (c), second alternative, detention for preventive purposes was justified if it was necessary to prevent a person from committing a concrete and specific offence, which, if carried out, would entail criminal proceedings. It was not necessary for the person concerned to have already committed an offence; the second alternative of Article 5 § 1 (c) would otherwise be superfluous in addition to the first alternative of that provision. Article 5 § 3 of the Convention had to be interpreted in the context of Article 5 § 1 (c) as requiring a prompt examination of the lawfulness of the detention of the person concerned: a criminal trial was not necessary, as the person was not charged with a criminal offence. 62.     The Government further argued that in Germany such detention for preventive purposes was necessary, as acts preparing criminal offences were, as a rule, not punishable, contrary to the criminal law applicable in other Contracting Parties to the Convention. This served to encourage potential offenders to give up their plans to commit an offence. Without the possibility of detaining persons for preventive purposes, the State would therefore be unable to comply with its positive obligation to protect its citizens from impending criminal offences – for instance, in the context of the transport of castor containers or football hooligans setting up an arranged brawl. 63.     Referring to the case of Guzzardi v. Italy (6 November 1980, § 102, Series A no. 39), the Government submitted that the applicants’ detention had been justified under the second alternative of sub-paragraph (c) of Article 5 § 1. There had been specific facts warranting the conclusion that it had been necessary to prevent them from committing an offence in the imminent future. The applicants had been found by the police standing next to a van in a car park in front of Waldeck prison in the company of seven other people one day after violent riots in Rostock city centre. The first applicant had violently resisted the police’s identity check. The police had found folded-up banners bearing the inscriptions “Freedom for all prisoners” and “Free all now” in the van. In these circumstances, it had been reasonable for the police to assume that the applicants had been about to join the ongoing demonstrations in Rostock and to display the banners to demonstrators, some of whom had been violent. This would have amounted to an incitement of others to free prisoners, punishable under Article 120 of the Criminal Code. 64.     The Government submitted that the wording of the banner bearing the inscription “Free all now” could have reasonably been interpreted as a call to other demonstrators to violently free prisoners, rather than as a call to the State authorities to order their release. The first applicant had violently resisted the identity check and proceedings had previously been brought against the second applicant for dangerous interference with rail traffic arising in the context of the transport of castor containers. Therefore, it had to be assumed that the applicants had wanted to disturb the summit by violent means and had wanted to incite other violent demonstrators present in Rostock to free prisoners held in the holding pens which had been set up in the city centre or individuals arrested during a demonstration by force. The applicants had not explained in the proceedings before the domestic courts that the inscriptions on their banners had had a different meaning. 65.     The Government further argued that the applicants’ detention had also been justified under sub-paragraph (b) of Article 5 § 1. It had been necessary to secure the fulfilment of an obligation prescribed by law. Having regard to the circumstances of the case, it was certain that the applicants would not have fulfilled their legal duty to comply with an order to report to a police station in their town of residence at regular intervals ( Meldeauflage ) or with an order not to enter a particular area ( Platzverweis ). The applicants had travelled several hundred kilometres in order to reach the venue of the G8 summit and had resisted the identity check. They had thus demonstrated that they would not follow orders given by the police. Having regard to the exceptional situation at hand, it had not been necessary to wait until the applicants had in fact breached such an order. Bearing in mind the great number of demonstrators present, it would not have been possible to prevent the applicants from committing offences upon their doing so. Therefore, compliance with their legal duties to follow such an order and the prevention of specific offences could only have been secured by their instantaneous detention. 66.     In the Government’s submission, following the decision of the District Court ordering the applicants’ detention, their deprivation of liberty had also been justified under sub-paragraph (a) of Article 5 § 1. They argued that the term “conviction” in that provision, contrary to the Court’s case-law (they referred, inter alia , to M. v. Germany , cited above, §§ 87 and 95), did not only comprise criminal convictions, but also court decisions ordering detention for preventive purposes. 67.     The Government further argued that the applicants’ detention had been lawful and in accordance with a procedure prescribed by law. It had been based on section 55(1), paragraph 2 (a), of the PSOA. The detention of the second applicant, who had been arrested in 2002 on suspicion of dangerous interference with rail traffic, had been based, in addition, on section 55(1), paragraph 2 (c), of the PSOA. 68.     In the Government’s view, the applicants’ detention had also been proportionate and not arbitrary. There had not been any less intrusive means available to prevent them from freeing prisoners by force or inciting others to do so throughout the duration of the G8 summit. In particular, as shown above (see paragraph 65), obliging them to report to a police station outside the G8 area at regular intervals would not have been sufficient to prevent them committing an offence. For the same reasons set out above, an order made against them not to enter a particular area – that of the G8 summit – would not have been suitable to avert the offence. The same applied to the seizure of the banners, which the applicants could have reproduced. 2.     The Court’s assessment (a)     Recapitulation of the relevant principles 69.     The Court reiterates that sub-paragraphs (a) to (f) of Article 5 § 1 contain an exhaustive list of permissible grounds for deprivation of liberty, and no deprivation of liberty will be lawful unless it falls within one of those grounds (see, inter alia , Guzzardi , cited above, § 96; Witold Litwa v.   Poland , no. 26629/95, § 49, ECHR   2000 ‑ III; and Saadi v. the United Kingdom [GC], no. 13229/03, § 43, ECHR 2008). 70.     Under the second alternative of sub-paragraph (c) of Article 5 § 1, the detention of a person may be justified “when it is reasonably considered necessary to prevent his committing an offence”. That ground of detention does no more than afford the Contracting States a means of preventing a concrete and specific offence (see Guzzardi , cited above, § 102; Ciulla v.   Italy , 22 February 1989, § 40, Series A no. 148; and Shimovolos v.   Russia , no. 30194/09, § 54, 21 June 2011) as regards, in particular, the place and time of its commission and its victim(s) (see M.   v.   Germany , cited above, §§ 89 and 102). This can be seen both from the use of the singular (“an offence”) and from the object of Article 5, namely to ensure that no one should be dispossessed of his liberty in an arbitrary fashion (see Guzzardi , cited above, § 102, and M. v. Germany , cited above, § 89). 71.     Under the Court’s well-established case-law, detention to prevent a person from committing an offence must, in addition, be “effected for the purpose of bringing him before the competent legal authority”, a requirement which qualifies every category of detention referred to in Article 5 § 1 (c) (see Lawless v. Ireland (no. 3) , 1 July 1961, pp. 51-53, §   14, Series A no. 3, and, mutatis mutandis , Ječius , cited above, §§ 50-51, and Engel and Others v.   the   Netherlands , 8 June 1976, § 69, Series A no.   22). 72.     Sub-paragraph (c) thus permits deprivation of liberty only in connection with criminal proceedings (see Ječius , cited above, § 50). It governs pre-trial detention (see Ciulla , cited above, §§ 38-40). This is apparent from its wording, which must be read in conjunction both with sub-paragraph (a) and with paragraph 3, which form a whole with it (see, inter alia , Ciulla , cited above, § 38, and Epple v. Germany , no. 77909/01, §   35, 24 March 2005). Paragraph 3 of Article 5 § 1 states that everyone arrested or detained in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 (c) of Article 5 must be brought promptly before a judge – in any of the circumstances contemplated by the provisions of that paragraph – and must be entitled to trial within a reasonable time (see also Lawless (no. 3) , cited above, pp. 51-53, § 14). 73.     Furthermore, detention is authorised under the second limb of sub ‑ paragraph (b) of Article   5 § 1 to “secure the fulfilment of any obligation prescribed by law”. It concerns cases where the law permits the detention of a person to compel him to fulfil a real and specific obligation already incumbent on him, and which he has until then failed to satisfy (see Engel and Others , cited above, § 69; Guzzardi , cited above, § 101; Ciulla , cited above, § 36; and Epple , cited above, § 37). The arrest and detention must be for the purpose of securing the fulfilment of the obligation and not punitive in character (see Gatt v. Malta , no. 28221/08, § 46, ECHR 2010). As soon as the relevant obligation has been fulfilled, the basis for detention under Article 5 § 1 (b) ceases to exist (see Vasileva v. Denmark , no. 52792/99, §   36, 25 September 2003, and Epple , cited above, § 37). It does not justify, for example, administrative internment meant to compel a citizen to discharge his general duty of obedience to the law (see Engel and Others , cited above, §   69). Finally, a balance must be drawn between the importance in a democratic society of securing the immediate fulfilment of the obligation in question, and the importance of the right to liberty (see Vasileva , cited above, §   37, and Epple , cited above, § 37). 74.     For the purposes of sub-paragraph (a) of Article 5 § 1, the word “conviction”, having regard to the French text (“ condamnation ”), has to be understood as signifying both a finding of guilt after it has been established in accordance with the law that there has been an offence (see Guzzardi , cited above, § 100), and the imposition of a penalty or other measure involving deprivation of liberty (see Van Droogenbroeck v. Belgium , 24   June 1982, § 35, Series A no. 50, and M. v. Germany , cited above, § 87). (b)     Application of these principles to the present case 75.     The Court is called upon to determine, first, whether the applicants’ detention under section 55(1), paragraph 2, of the PSOA in order to prevent them from committing a criminal offence fell within one of the permissible grounds for deprivation of liberty listed in sub-paragraphs (a) to (f) of Article 5 § 1. 76.     The Court observes that in the Government’s submission, the applicants’ detention was justified, in the first place, under sub ‑ paragraph   (c) of Article 5 § 1. It further notes that the applicants, by being in possession of folded-up banners bearing the inscriptions “Freedom for all prisoners” and “Free all now”, had not yet committed a criminal offence and were subsequently never charged with having incited others to liberate prisoners by force. This is uncontested be