Criminal proceedings and your airport security clearance.
If you work at a German airport, a criminal case puts more at risk than a fine. Without the security background check, the ZÜP, there is no ID for the restricted area and often no job. Whether you keep it is usually decided not by the aviation security authority, but in the criminal proceedings. We defend you with that goal in mind.
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The background check under section 7 of the Aviation Security Act (Luftsicherheitsgesetz) is required for everyone working in the security-restricted area of an airport or with direct influence on aviation security: airport, airline and ground handling staff, security screeners, cleaning, catering and cargo, as well as pilots and student pilots. Without a completed check, access must not be granted.
For Frankfurt Airport, the competent authority is the aviation security authority at Frankfurt police headquarters (Polizeipräsidium Frankfurt am Main). It checks, among other sources, the Federal Central Criminal Register, the central register of prosecution proceedings, police, customs and the domestic intelligence service. It therefore sees ongoing and discontinued investigations even where there was never a conviction.
60 daily units.
A conviction for an intentional offence to imprisonment, youth custody or a fine of at least 60 daily units (Tagessätze), or two convictions to smaller fines, normally means the clearance is lost for five years. A prison sentence of at least one year means ten years. A penal order counts as a conviction and becomes final two weeks after service unless an objection is filed.
For the defence this means the question is not only whether you are convicted, but how severely. Below the threshold, the authority makes an overall assessment, in which ongoing or discontinued proceedings, substance misuse or inconsistent identities may also play a role.
The clearance sets the strategy.
- Early intervention: the best outcome for the ZÜP is a discontinuation for lack of sufficient suspicion (section 170(2) StPO).
- The sanction matters: where that is not achievable, we negotiate type and level of the sanction with the 60-unit threshold in mind.
- Penal orders: the deadline for an objection is two weeks. An objection can be limited to the sentence, for example the number of daily units.
- The hearing: if the authority has doubts, you will be invited to comment. What you say there must fit the defence in the criminal case. We prepare the statement with you.
We work in German and English, and in Chinese through our China Desk. Further information: Deutsch · 中文 · Arrest of a foreign national in Germany
ZÜP and criminal proceedings in brief.
What is the ZÜP at a German airport?
ZÜP stands for Zuverlässigkeitsüberprüfung, the security background check under section 7 of the German Aviation Security Act (LuftSiG). Anyone working in the security-restricted area of an airport, or with direct influence on aviation security, needs it. Without it there is no airport ID for the restricted area. In Hesse, including Frankfurt Airport, the check is carried out by the aviation security authority at Frankfurt police headquarters. A positive decision is normally valid for five years.
What happens to my ZÜP if I am under criminal investigation?
The aviation security authority will usually find out, even after the clearance was granted, because police and prosecutors must report new information (section 7(9) LuftSiG). An ongoing investigation does not automatically end the clearance, but it is part of the overall assessment. What usually decides the matter is how the criminal case ends, so the defence should aim for that outcome from the start.
Which sentence normally costs the ZÜP?
Under section 7(1a) LuftSiG, a person is normally regarded as unreliable after a conviction for an intentional offence to imprisonment, youth custody or a fine of at least 60 daily units, or after two convictions to smaller fines. This applies for five years from the conviction becoming final, or ten years for a prison sentence of at least one year. A penal order (Strafbefehl) counts as a conviction.
I have received a penal order (Strafbefehl). What should I do?
You can object within two weeks of service (section 410 StPO). After that it becomes final and has the same effect as a judgment. If the fine is 60 daily units or more, the ZÜP is normally lost for five years. Have it reviewed immediately, before the deadline expires.
Will my employer learn why my ZÜP was refused?
No. The employer is told the result, but not the information on which the decision is based (section 7(7) LuftSiG).
This page provides general information and does not replace advice on an individual case.
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