Berlin Regional Court after C-670/22: EncroChat data excluded, acquittal on 17 of 18 counts

In its judgment of 19 December 2024, delivered after the CJEU's ruling in C-670/22 on its own reference, the Berlin Regional Court excluded the EncroChat data and acquitted the defendant on 17 of 18 counts; he was convicted only for a small quantity of drugs for personal use. The chamber found that France deliberately omitted the Art. 31 notification, which would have led a German court to prohibit the surveillance for lack of concrete suspicion, and that the Federal Criminal Police Office and the Frankfurt General Prosecutor's Office condoned the breach. The European Investigation Order of 2 June 2020 also violated Art. 6(1)(b) of the Directive. The secrecy of French and German authorities about technical and procedural details violated the right to a fair trial and independently barred use of the data. In the alternative, the chats were of such reduced probative value that they needed corroboration, which was lacking.