European Criminal Law Flashcards
The Greek Maize Case
The penalties for EU law infringements must be effective, proportionate, and dissuasive
The Environmental Legislation Litigation Case
TLDR; the principle of subsidiarity as applied to environmental protection.
The Community Legislature may impose on MS the state to proscribe criminal sanctions to ensure that environmental protection rules are fully effective.
Ship-Source Pollution Case
TLDR; the principle of subsidiarity as applied to environmental protection.
The Community Legislature may require MS to introduce such penalties in order to ensure that the rules that it lays down in that field are fully effective.
Tarrico I
TLDR: the principle of legality
National law must be set aside when it undermines EU laws. In this case, the national law in question only referred to procedural law.
Tarrico II
TLDR: the principle of legality
If setting aside national laws would violate fundamental rights, they must stay in place.
Berlusconi
A directive cannot, independent of national legislation, have the effect of determining or increasing the criminal liability of those accused persons
Mineral Water Case
The Facts: A directive was not implemented by a MS by a certain state.
While national courts must interpret the laws in line with EU directives, directives cannot impose of worsen criminal liability without national implementation because of the principle of legal certainty and non-retroactivity.
Maria Pupino Case
The court is called upon to interpret as far as possible in the light of the wording and purpose of the framework decision in order to attain the result that it pursues.
Advocaten Case
The EAW does not infringe on the principle of legality given that the offenses and penalties in question must still be defined by the Member State, and defined in a way that respects fundamental rights.
Also addressed the principles of equality and non-discrimination in the application of the EAW, stating that offences must be defined in a way that respects fundamental rights.
Persons Unknown
A directive that has not been transposed into the internal legal order of a MS may not therefore give rise to obligations on individuals either in regard to other individuals to in regard to the state itself
Gozutok & Brugge
Regarding Art. 54 of the Schengen agreement’s bar on double jeopardy
Ne bis in idem applies even when the prosecution is discontinued without a trial reinforcing mutual trust in Member States’ justice systems.
Akerberg Fransson
The ne bis in idem principle laid down in Article 50 CFR does not preclude a MS from imposing successively, for the same acts of non-compliance a tax penalty and a criminal penalty in so far as the first penalty is not criminal in nature
Three criteria for the purpose of assessing whether a tax penalty is criminal in nature:
1. The legal classification of the offense under national law
2. The very nature of the offense; and
3. The nature and degree of severity of the penalty that the person concerned is liable to incur
Van Esbroeck
The import and export of the same drugs were “inextricably linked,” meaning prosecution in Belgium after conviction in Norway violated ne bis in idem.
Jean Leon van Straaten
Different amounts of drugs, but the same consignment.
Ne Bis in idem applies based on factual links between offenses, not just their legal classifications, meaning prosecution for different drug quantities could still be barred.
Caldararu
Re Detention Conditions
Created a two-step test for refusing an EAW if generalized deficiencies in detention conditions create a risk of inhuman treatment
Step 1: Look at generalized deficiencies - reliable, specific and properly updated
Step 2: Use Art. 15(2) of EAW framework decision where the requested state asks the issuing state for more information on whether there is a specific risk for this individual
LM
Extended Caldararu test to apply to judicial independence, allowing a refusal of an EAW if systemic issues threaten the right to a fair trial
L&P
Confirmed that EAW execution can be refused based on systemic threats to judicial independence, but only after a specific, case-by-case assessment
Step 1: objective, reliable, specific and properly updated material … on account of systematic or generalized deficiencies
Step 2: specifically and precisely to what extent those deficiencies are liable to have an impact at the level of the courts that the MS which have jurisdiction over the proceedings to which the requested person will be subject
