Why it happens at the airport in particular
Anyone arriving from or departing to a state outside the Schengen area passes through border control. EU citizens, and therefore Germans as well, are systematically checked against the Schengen Information System and other databases (Article 8(2) of the Schengen Borders Code). An alert for arrest can therefore come to light at the airports where travelers cross the external border of the Schengen area. The police can, however, also make an arrest at any other check.
If another state is looking for you
The basis can be an alert in the Schengen Information System, for example on the strength of a European Arrest Warrant, a search via Interpol or a direct request from the other state. If the requirements for an extradition arrest warrant are met, the police may arrest you provisionally (Section 19 of the Act on International Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, IRG). Without delay, and by the day after the arrest at the latest, you must be brought before the judge of the nearest local court (Amtsgericht). The judge examines whether you are the person sought, advises you of your rights and asks about your objections (Section 22 IRG). The Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht, OLG) then decides on extradition detention (Sections 13 and 16 IRG).
If you raise no objections, the local court judge advises you about simplified extradition and records your declaration (Section 22(3) and Section 21(6) IRG). Consent to it cannot be withdrawn (Section 41(3) IRG). Do not give it before you have spoken to a lawyer. What else matters in the first hours is explained on the page First Aid on Arrest.
If you are a German national, Germany may extradite you only to EU member states or an international court, and even then only on a statutory basis and in compliance with the rule of law (Article 16(2) of the Basic Law [Grundgesetz, GG]). If a state outside the EU is looking for you, your extradition is inadmissible; extradition detention must not be ordered in that case (Section 15(2) IRG). On a European Arrest Warrant, by contrast, Germans can also be surrendered, under the stricter conditions of Section 80 IRG.
Under the IRG, the extradition arrest warrant must be set aside if you have been in detention for a total of two months without the extradition request and supporting documents having been received; if a state outside Europe requested provisional extradition detention, the period is three months (Section 16(2) IRG). Extradition treaties take precedence (Section 1(3) IRG) and in some cases provide for considerably shorter time limits.
If the German justice system is looking for you
The check can just as well bring a German alert to light. The Code of Criminal Procedure (Strafprozessordnung, StPO) then applies, and it depends on what lies behind the hit:
- Pre-trial detention warrant: You must be brought before the competent court without delay; if that is not possible by the day after the arrest at the latest, before the nearest local court (Sections 115 and 115a StPO). That court releases you if the arrest warrant has been set aside, the public prosecutor's office has applied for it to be set aside or you are not the person sought; otherwise, the competent court decides (Section 126 StPO). You can demand to be brought before that court (Section 115a(3) StPO).
- Enforcement arrest warrant: If you did not report to begin serving a prison sentence when summoned, or if you are suspected of flight, the enforcement authority can issue an arrest warrant (Section 457(2) StPO). You are then taken to serve the sentence.
- Unpaid fine: The default imprisonment is not enforced to the extent that the fine is paid (Section 459e(4) StPO). Press releases from the Federal Police (Bundespolizei) report cases in which arrested persons paid the outstanding amount on the spot and thereby averted detention.
- Alert to establish your whereabouts: If the justice system is only looking for your whereabouts, for example to serve documents on you, this alert does not in itself permit an arrest (Section 131a StPO). Your identity can, however, be established, and if the requirements for an arrest warrant are met, a provisional arrest is still possible in urgent cases (Section 127(2) StPO).
Anyone who knows about an arrest warrant before traveling should prepare their entry; see the page Return with an Outstanding Arrest Warrant.
The major airports and their courts
Extradition detention is decided by the Higher Regional Court in whose district you were arrested; the proceedings are prepared by the General Public Prosecutor's Office at that court (Sections 13 and 14(1) IRG). For the major hubs, this means:
- Frankfurt am Main: Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main and General Public Prosecutor's Office in Frankfurt am Main.
- Munich: Higher Regional Court of Munich and General Public Prosecutor's Office in Munich.
- Düsseldorf: Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf and General Public Prosecutor's Office in Düsseldorf.
- Hamburg: Hanseatic Higher Regional Court and General Public Prosecutor's Office in Hamburg.
- Berlin Brandenburg (BER): The airport is located in Schönefeld and thus in Brandenburg; responsibility lies with the Brandenburg Higher Regional Court and the General Public Prosecutor's Office of the State of Brandenburg.
If a German pre-trial detention warrant is involved, the court that issued it remains competent, and after an indictment the court before which the case is pending, even if it sits at the other end of Germany (Section 126 StPO). If you cannot be brought before the competent court by the day after the arrest, the nearest local court handles the first hearing (Section 115a StPO).
What relatives can do
If a relative does not come out of the arrivals area and cannot be reached, an arrest at border control may be the reason. Call me. I immediately try to clarify where they are being held and on what basis, and contact the authorities and the court before which they are brought. It helps to have the flight number and arrival time, all of the person's nationalities and anything you know about proceedings in Germany or abroad.
If the arrested person is not (also) a German national, they can request that their consulate be notified (Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations).
How I proceed
I am reachable around the clock. After an arrest at an airport, the first issue is the court hearing: raising objections and not giving hasty consent to simplified extradition. Then, as quickly as possible, the question of whether detention can be suspended (Section 25 IRG, Section 116 StPO). I take on the defense nationwide in Germany, whichever airport the arrest took place at.