This document is an excerpt from the EUR-Lex website
Document 62015CN0612
Case C-612/15: Request for a preliminary ruling from the Spetsializiran nakazatelen sad (Bulgaria) lodged on 18 November 2015 — Criminal proceedings against Kolev and Others
Case C-612/15: Request for a preliminary ruling from the Spetsializiran nakazatelen sad (Bulgaria) lodged on 18 November 2015 — Criminal proceedings against Kolev and Others
Case C-612/15: Request for a preliminary ruling from the Spetsializiran nakazatelen sad (Bulgaria) lodged on 18 November 2015 — Criminal proceedings against Kolev and Others
OJ C 48, 8.2.2016, p. 14–17
(BG, ES, CS, DA, DE, ET, EL, EN, FR, HR, IT, LV, LT, HU, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SK, SL, FI, SV)
8.2.2016 |
EN |
Official Journal of the European Union |
C 48/14 |
Request for a preliminary ruling from the Spetsializiran nakazatelen sad (Bulgaria) lodged on 18 November 2015 — Criminal proceedings against Kolev and Others
(Case C-612/15)
(2016/C 048/22)
Language of the case: Bulgarian
Referring court
Spetsializiran nakazatelen sad
Parties to the main proceedings
Kolev and Others
Questions referred
1. |
Is a national law compatible with the obligation of a Member State to provide for the effective prosecution of criminal offences by customs officials if that law provides for criminal proceedings brought against customs officials — for participation in a conspiracy to commit corruption offences while performing their professional duties (accepting bribes for non-performance of customs inspections), and for specific bribery offences and concealment of bribes received — to be terminated, without the court having examined the charges brought, under the following conditions: (a) two years have elapsed since the accused was charged; (b) the accused has lodged a request for the pre-trial investigation to be concluded; (c) the court has given the prosecutor a period of three months to conclude the pre-trial investigation; (d) during that period, the prosecutor has committed ‘infringements of essential procedural requirements’ (failure properly to notify a supplementary charge, failure to disclose the investigation file, contradictory indictment); (e) the court has given the prosecutor a further period of one month to remedy those ‘infringements of essential procedural requirements’; ([f]) the prosecutor has failed to remedy the ‘infringements of essential procedural requirements’ within that time-limit — albeit that the infringements committed within the first three-month period and the failure to remedy them within the subsequent one-month period are attributable both to the prosecutor (failure to remove contradictions in the indictment; failure to take real action for most of those periods) and also to the defence (breach of the duty to cooperate with respect to notification of the charge and inspection of the investigation file due to the hospitalisation of the accused and claims regarding the lawyers’ other professional commitments); ([g]) the accused has acquired a subjective right to the termination of the criminal proceedings on account of the failure to remedy the ‘infringements of essential procedural requirements’ within the prescribed periods? |
2. |
If the answer to that question is in the negative, which part of the abovementioned legislation should the national court disapply in order to ensure that EU law is applied effectively: 2.1. termination of the criminal proceedings once the one-month period has expired; or 2.2. categorisation of the abovementioned defects as ‘infringements of essential procedural requirements’; or 2.3. protection of the subjective right arising under [(g)] if there is a possibility that that infringement may be remedied effectively in the court proceedings?
|
3. |
Can more favourable national rules on the right to a trial within a reasonable time, the right to information and the right of access to a lawyer be applied if they — in conjunction with other circumstances (the procedure described at point 1) — would result in the termination of the criminal proceedings? |
4. |
Is Article 3(1) of Directive 2013/48 to be interpreted as authorising the national court to exclude from the court proceedings a lawyer who has represented two of the accused, one of whom has given a statement regarding matters that are prejudicial to the interests of the other, who has not given a statement? |
If this question is to be answered in the affirmative, would the court be safeguarding the right of access to a lawyer in accordance with Article 3(1) of Directive 2013/48 if, having allowed a lawyer who has simultaneously represented two defendants with conflicting interests to take part in the proceedings, it appointed new, different defence lawyers to represent each of those defendants?
(1) Directive 2012/13/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2012 on the right to information in criminal proceedings (OJ 2012 L 142, p. 1).
(2) Directive 2013/48/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2013 on the right of access to a lawyer in criminal proceedings and in European arrest warrant proceedings, and on the right to have a third party informed upon deprivation of liberty and to communicate with third persons and with consular authorities while deprived of liberty (OJ 2013 L 294, p. 1).