''Josemans'' v ''Burgemeester van Maastricht'' (case C-137/09) is a European Union law case from 2010, concerning

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternative ...

and the free movement of services in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

. The Second Chamber of the

Court of Justice of the European Union The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) (french: Cour de justice de l'Union européenne or "''CJUE''"; Latin: Curia) is the judicial branch of the European Union (EU). Seated in the Kirchberg quarter of Luxembourg City, Luxembour ...

pronounced its ruling on 16 December 2010.

Facts

Netherlands prohibited marketing of marijuana, but tolerated by law. Municipal legislation in

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

limited access to marijuana cafes to residents only. Josemans, who ran a coffee shop selling marijuana, claimed that this prohibition contravened the freedom to provide services under

TFEU The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) is one of two treaties forming the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU), the other being the Treaty on European Union (TEU). It was previously known as the Treaty Establishi ...

article 56, and that it would have to be justified.

Judgment

The Court of Justice, Second Chamber, held that

article 56 could not be relied on to challenge municipal laws. Legislation restricting free movement of services was justified by the need to combat

drug tourism Recreational drug tourism is travel for the purpose of obtaining or using drugs for recreational use that are unavailable, illegal or very expensive in one's home jurisdiction. A drug tourist may cross a national border to obtain a drug that is not ...

Significance

The case has been criticised for its inconsistency on previous Court of Justice cases on illegal services. For example, De Witte writes the following.See F De Witte, 'Sex, Drugs & EU law' (2013) 50 Common Market Law Review 1545, 1564

References

{{reflist, 2 2010 in cannabis 2010 in case law 2010 in the Netherlands Cannabis Cannabis in the Netherlands Drug policy European Union services case law History of Maastricht Maastricht Recreational drug tourism

Facts

Judgment

Significance

See also

References