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Document 62024CA0008
Case C-8/24, Županijsko državno odvjetništvo: Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 17 March 2026 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Visoki kazneni sud Republike Hrvatske – Croatia) – Criminal proceedings against D. d.o.o. (Reference for a preliminary ruling – Area of freedom, security and justice – Judicial cooperation in criminal matters – Regulation (EU) 2018/1805 – Article 1(1) and (4) – Confiscation order issued in criminal proceedings – Point 2 of Article 2 and point 3(a) and (d) of Article 2 – Confiscation in relation to a criminal offence, but without a final conviction – Confiscation order imposed in a judgment of acquittal finding that the goods to be confiscated are the product of a criminal offence other than the offence giving rise to that judgment and in which offence persons other than the defendants acquitted were involved – No indictment against those persons – Article 19(1)(h) – Grounds for non-recognition and non-execution of confiscation orders – Exceptional situations in which there are substantial grounds to believe, on the basis of specific and objective evidence, that the execution of the confiscation order would, in the particular circumstances of the case, entail a manifest breach of a fundamental right as set out in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union – Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights – Right to an effective remedy and rights of the defence – No use of effective remedies in the issuing Member State)
Case C-8/24, Županijsko državno odvjetništvo: Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 17 March 2026 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Visoki kazneni sud Republike Hrvatske – Croatia) – Criminal proceedings against D. d.o.o. (Reference for a preliminary ruling – Area of freedom, security and justice – Judicial cooperation in criminal matters – Regulation (EU) 2018/1805 – Article 1(1) and (4) – Confiscation order issued in criminal proceedings – Point 2 of Article 2 and point 3(a) and (d) of Article 2 – Confiscation in relation to a criminal offence, but without a final conviction – Confiscation order imposed in a judgment of acquittal finding that the goods to be confiscated are the product of a criminal offence other than the offence giving rise to that judgment and in which offence persons other than the defendants acquitted were involved – No indictment against those persons – Article 19(1)(h) – Grounds for non-recognition and non-execution of confiscation orders – Exceptional situations in which there are substantial grounds to believe, on the basis of specific and objective evidence, that the execution of the confiscation order would, in the particular circumstances of the case, entail a manifest breach of a fundamental right as set out in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union – Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights – Right to an effective remedy and rights of the defence – No use of effective remedies in the issuing Member State)
Case C-8/24, Županijsko državno odvjetništvo: Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 17 March 2026 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Visoki kazneni sud Republike Hrvatske – Croatia) – Criminal proceedings against D. d.o.o. (Reference for a preliminary ruling – Area of freedom, security and justice – Judicial cooperation in criminal matters – Regulation (EU) 2018/1805 – Article 1(1) and (4) – Confiscation order issued in criminal proceedings – Point 2 of Article 2 and point 3(a) and (d) of Article 2 – Confiscation in relation to a criminal offence, but without a final conviction – Confiscation order imposed in a judgment of acquittal finding that the goods to be confiscated are the product of a criminal offence other than the offence giving rise to that judgment and in which offence persons other than the defendants acquitted were involved – No indictment against those persons – Article 19(1)(h) – Grounds for non-recognition and non-execution of confiscation orders – Exceptional situations in which there are substantial grounds to believe, on the basis of specific and objective evidence, that the execution of the confiscation order would, in the particular circumstances of the case, entail a manifest breach of a fundamental right as set out in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union – Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights – Right to an effective remedy and rights of the defence – No use of effective remedies in the issuing Member State)
OJ C, C/2026/2852, 8.6.2026, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2026/2852/oj (BG, ES, CS, DA, DE, ET, EL, EN, FR, GA, HR, IT, LV, LT, HU, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SK, SL, FI, SV)
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Official Journal |
EN C series |
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C/2026/2852 |
8.6.2026 |
Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 17 March 2026 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Visoki kazneni sud Republike Hrvatske – Croatia) – Criminal proceedings against D. d.o.o.
(Case C-8/24, (1) Županijsko državno odvjetništvo)
(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Area of freedom, security and justice - Judicial cooperation in criminal matters - Regulation (EU) 2018/1805 - Article 1(1) and (4) - Confiscation order issued in criminal proceedings - Point 2 of Article 2 and point 3(a) and (d) of Article 2 - Confiscation in relation to a criminal offence, but without a final conviction - Confiscation order imposed in a judgment of acquittal finding that the goods to be confiscated are the product of a criminal offence other than the offence giving rise to that judgment and in which offence persons other than the defendants acquitted were involved - No indictment against those persons - Article 19(1)(h) - Grounds for non-recognition and non-execution of confiscation orders - Exceptional situations in which there are substantial grounds to believe, on the basis of specific and objective evidence, that the execution of the confiscation order would, in the particular circumstances of the case, entail a manifest breach of a fundamental right as set out in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union - Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights - Right to an effective remedy and rights of the defence - No use of effective remedies in the issuing Member State)
(C/2026/2852)
Language of the case: Croatian
Referring court
Visoki kazneni sud Republike Hrvatske
Party in the main proceedings
D. d.o.o.
Other party:
Županijsko državno odvjetništvo u Zagrebu
Operative part of the judgment
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1. |
Article 1(1) and (4) and point 2 and point 3(a) and (d) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1805 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 November 2018 on the mutual recognition of freezing orders and confiscation orders must be interpreted as meaning that that regulation applies to a confiscation order issued, following criminal proceedings, in a judgment acquitting the defendants of the offence that was the subject of those proceedings and declaring that the property to be confiscated constitutes the proceeds of a criminal offence other than that offence, involving a person who was not one of the acquitted defendants, against whom no indictment has been drawn up. |
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2. |
Article 19(1)(h) of Regulation 2018/1805, read in conjunction with Article 1(2) of that regulation and in the light of Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, must be interpreted as meaning that the executing authority of a Member State cannot refuse to recognise and execute a confiscation order on the basis of an alleged failure in the issuing Member State to observe the fundamental rights of the person affected by that order, within the meaning of point 10 of Article 2 of that regulation, where that person, having been effectively served, in a language which he or she understands, with parts of the judgment imposing that order sufficient to enable him or her to appeal against it, did not make use of the legal remedies available to him or her in the issuing Member State to challenge that confiscation order. |
(1) OJ C, C/2024/2589.
ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2026/2852/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)