CJEU Case C-393/19 / Judgment

Criminal proceedings against OM
Policy area
Justice, freedom and security
Deciding body type
Court of Justice of the European Union
Deciding body
Court (First Chamber)
Typ
Decision
Decision date
14/01/2021
ECLI (European case law identifier)
ECLI:EU:C:2021:8
  • CJEU Case C-393/19 / Judgment

    Key facts of the case: 

    Request for a preliminary ruling from the Apelativen sad - Plovdiv.

    Reference for a preliminary ruling – Article 17 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union – Right to property – Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights – Right to an effective remedy – Framework Decision 2005/212/JHA – Confiscation of crime-related proceeds, instrumentalities and property – Directive 2014/42/EU – Freezing and confiscation of instrumentalities and proceeds of crime in the European Union – National legislation providing for the confiscation, for the benefit of the State, of property used to commit the offence of smuggling – Property belonging to a third party acting in good faith.

     

    Outcome of the case: 

    On those grounds, the Court (First Chamber) hereby rules:

    1. Article 2(1) of Council Framework Decision 2005/212/JHA of 24 February 2005 on Confiscation of Crime-Related Proceeds, Instrumentalities and Property, read in the light of Article 17(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, must be interpreted as precluding a national law which permits the confiscation of an instrumentality used to commit an aggravated smuggling offence where that property belongs to a third party acting in good faith.
    2. Article 4 of Framework Decision 2005/212/JHA, read in the light of Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, must be interpreted as precluding a national law which permits the confiscation, in the context of criminal proceedings, of property belonging to a person other than the person who committed the criminal offence, without the former being afforded an effective remedy.
  • Paragraphs referring to EU Charter

    1) This request for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of Article 17(1) and Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the Charter’).

    ...

    21) OM lodged an appeal against that judgment with the Apelativen sad – Plovdiv (Court of Appeal, Plovdiv, Bulgaria) in so far as it ordered the seizure of the tractor unit, claiming that that seizure was contrary inter alia to the provisions of the FEU Treaty and the Charter.

    ...

    23) That being the case, that court has doubts as to the compatibility of Article 242(8) of the NK, which was adopted prior to the accession of the Republic of Bulgaria to the European Union on 1 January 2007, with provisions of EU law, in particular with Article 17(1) and Article 47 of the Charter.

    ...

    25) In that regard, the referring court refers to the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights of 13 October 2015, Ünsped Paket Servisi SaN. Ve TiC. A. Ș. v. Bulgaria (CE:ECHR:2015:1013JUD000350308), in which that court held that the seizure, on the basis of Article 242(8) of the NK, of a lorry belonging to a company established in Turkey was contrary to Article 1 of Protocol No 1 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, signed in Rome on 4 November 1950, the content of which is identical to that of Article 17(1) of the Charter. That court found that the company that owned the lorry had been deprived of access to justice, since the national procedure had not allowed it to put forward its point of view, with the result that the balance between all the interests was not ensured.

    ...

    27) In those circumstances, the Apelativen sad Plovdiv (Court of Appeal, Plovdiv) decided to stay the proceedings and to refer the following questions to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling:

    1. Is Article 17(1) of the [Charter] to be interpreted as meaning that a national provision such as that pursuant to Article 242(8) of the [NK], according to which a means of transport used to commit aggravated smuggling which belongs to a third person who neither knew nor could or should have known that its employee was committing the offence must be confiscated for the benefit of the State, is unlawful on the grounds that it undermines the fair balance between the public interest and the need to protect the right to property?
    2. Is Article 47 of the [Charter] to be interpreted as meaning that a national provision such as that pursuant to Article 242(8) of the [NK], according to which a means of transport owned by a person who is not the person who committed the offence can be confiscated without the owner being guaranteed direct access to the courts to state its case, is unlawful?’

    ...

    29) In that regard, it must be noted that the questions referred for a preliminary ruling expressly concern only provisions of the Charter, that is to say, Article 17, relating to the right to property, and Article 47, relating to the right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial.

    30) It should be recalled that the Charter’s scope of application, so far as concerns action of the Member States, is defined in Article 51(1) thereof, according to which the provisions of the Charter are addressed to the Member States only when they are implementing EU law (judgment of 6 October 2015, Delvigne, C‑650/13EU:C:2015:648, paragraph 25 and the case-law cited).

    31) Article 51(1) of the Charter confirms the Court’s settled case-law, which states that the fundamental rights guaranteed in the legal order of the European Union are applicable in all situations governed by EU law, but not outside such situations (judgment of 6 October 2015, Delvigne, C‑650/13EU:C:2015:648, paragraph 26 and the case-law cited).

    32) Thus, where a legal situation does not come within the scope of EU law, the Court does not have jurisdiction to rule on it and any provisions of the Charter relied upon cannot, of themselves, form the basis for such jurisdiction (judgment of 6 October 2015, Delvigne, C‑650/13EU:C:2015:648, paragraph 27 and the case-law cited).

    ...

    41) Moreover, that framework decision provides for rules relating to the confiscation ‘of instrumentalities and proceeds from criminal offences’ and the remedies that must be available to persons affected by a confiscation measure, in Articles 2 and 4 respectively. It follows that, by its questions, which concern the legality of the confiscation of goods belonging to a third party acting in good faith and the remedies that must be open to a third party affected by a confiscation measure, the referring court seeks, in fact, to obtain an interpretation of those provisions of Framework Decision 2005/212, read in the light of Articles 17 and 47 of the Charter.

    ...

    43) In the light of the foregoing considerations, the referring court asks, in essence, whether Article 2(1) of Framework Decision 2005/212, read in the light of Article 17(1) of the Charter, must be interpreted as precluding national legislation that permits the confiscation of an instrumentality used to commit an aggravated smuggling offence, where that property belongs to a third party acting in good faith.

    ...

    52) In that context, it is necessary to take into account Article 17(1) of the Charter, which provides, inter alia, that everyone has the right to own his or her lawfully acquired possessions, to use them and dispose of them.

    53) It is true that the right to property guaranteed by that provision does not constitute an absolute prerogative. In accordance with Article 52(1) of the Charter, limitations may be placed on the exercise of the rights and freedoms enshrined therein, on condition that those limitations genuinely correspond to objectives of public interest pursued by the European Union and do not constitute, in relation to the aim pursued, a disproportionate and intolerable interference, impairing the very substance of the right so guaranteed (see, to that effect, judgment of 16 July 2020, Adusbef and Federconsumatori, C‑686/18EU:C:2020:567, paragraph 85 and the case-law cited).

    ...

    56) Accordingly, it must be noted that a national rule, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, does not comply with the right to property enshrined in Article 17(1) of the Charter, in so far as it provides that the property of a third party acting in good faith used to commit an aggravated smuggling offence may be the subject of a confiscation measure.

    ...

    58) In the light of the foregoing considerations, the answer to the first question is that Article 2(1) of Framework Decision 2005/212, read in the light of Article 17(1) of the Charter, must be interpreted as precluding national legislation that permits the confiscation of an instrumentality used to commit an aggravated smuggling offence, where that property belongs to a third party acting in good faith.

    59) By its second question, the referring court asks, in essence, whether Article 4 of Framework Decision 2005/212, read in the light of Article 47 of the Charter, must be interpreted as precluding a national law which permits the confiscation, in the context of criminal proceedings, of property belonging to a person other than the person who committed the criminal offence, without the former being afforded an effective remedy.

    ...

    62) In that regard, it must also be noted that, under the first and second paragraphs of Article 47 of the Charter, everyone whose rights and freedoms guaranteed by the law of the European Union have been violated has the right to an effective remedy before a tribunal in compliance with the conditions laid down in that article and inter alia is entitled to a fair hearing.

    ...

    68) In the light of the foregoing considerations, the answer to the second question is that Article 4 of Framework Decision 2005/212, read in the light of Article 47 of the Charter, must be interpreted as precluding a national law which permits the confiscation, in the context of criminal proceedings, of property belonging to a person other than the person who committed the criminal offence, without the former being afforded an effective remedy.

  • Paragraphs referring to EU Charter (original language)