The EU Court of Justice (ECJ) has upheld a maximum recruitment age of 35 for the Basque police.

There was evidence that an officer aged 55 or more could no longer safely perform the required duties in the Basque force. The ECJ distinguished the case from its 2014 decision in Vital Pérez, which had held that a maximum recruitment age for local police officers was not justified. The local police in the latter case had more limited functions than the Basque police, and in the Basque case there was evidence that length of expected service was important to re-establish a satisfactory age pyramid.

The ECJ held the age limit for the Basque police to be lawful on the basis of a genuine occupational requirement, assuming the national court satisfied itself that the information submitted was accurate.

More: Maximum recruitment age, and Some cases: maximum recruitment age.

The name of the case is In Gorka Salaberria Sorondo v Academia Vasca de Policía y Emergencias www.bailii.org/eu/cases/EUECJ/2016/C25815.html.