16.11.2013

Official Journal of the European Union

C 336/9

Request for a preliminary ruling from the Bayerisches Verwaltungsgericht München (Germany) lodged on 2 September 2013 — Andre Lawrence Shepherd v Federal Republic of Germany

(Case C-472/13)

2013/C 336/19

Language of the case: German

Referring court

Bayerisches Verwaltungsgericht München

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Andre Lawrence Shepherd

Defendant: Federal Republic of Germany

Questions referred

Is Article 9(2)(e) of Directive 2004/83/EC (1) to be interpreted as meaning that the protection afforded extends only to those persons whose specific military duties include direct participation in combat, that is armed operations, and/or who have the authority to order such operations (first alternative), or can other members of the armed forces also fall within the scope of the protection afforded by that legislation if their duties are confined to logistical, technical support for the unit outwith actual combat and have only an indirect effect on the actual fighting (second alternative)?

If the answer to Question 1 is that the second alternative applies:

Is Article 9(2)(e) of Directive 2004/83/EC to be interpreted as meaning that military service in a conflict (international or domestic) must predominantly or systematically call for or require the commission of crimes or acts as defined in Article 12(2) of Directive 2004/83/EC (first alternative), or is it sufficient if the applicant for asylum states that, in individual cases, crimes, as defined in Article 12(2)(a) of Directive 2004/83/EC, were committed by the armed forces to which he belongs in the area of operations in which they were deployed, either because individual operational orde