CJEU Case C-144/23 / Judgment

KUBERA, trgovanje s hrano in pijačo, d.o.o. v Republika Slovenija
Deciding body type
Court of Justice of the European Union
Type
Decision
Decision date
15/10/2024
ECLI (European case law identifier)
ECLI:EU:C:2024:881
  • CJEU Case C-144/23 / Judgment

    Key facts of the case: 

    Reference for a preliminary ruling – Article 267 TFEU – Scope of the obligation on national courts or tribunals of last instance to make a reference for a preliminary ruling – Proceedings relating to the grant of leave to appeal on a point of law to the supreme court of a Member State – Request by the party seeking leave to appeal on a point of law that a question concerning the interpretation of EU law be referred to the Court of Justice – National legislation under which leave to appeal on a point of law is to be granted if the appeal raises a question of law that is important for ensuring legal certainty, the uniform application of the law or its development – Obligation for the national supreme court to consider, in proceedings relating to the grant of leave to appeal on a point of law, whether a reference for a preliminary ruling should be made – Statement of reasons for the decision refusing leave to appeal on a point of law

    Outcome of the case: 

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

    1.      The third paragraph of Article 267 TFEU must be interpreted as precluding a court or tribunal of a Member State against whose decisions there is no judicial remedy under national law from deciding – in proceedings relating to the examination of an application for leave to appeal on a point of law the outcome of which depends on the significance of the legal issue raised by one of the parties to the dispute with respect to legal certainty, the uniform application of the law or its development – to refuse such an application for leave without having assessed whether it was obliged to submit to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling a question concerning the interpretation or validity of a provision of EU law raised in support of that application.

    2.      Article 267 TFEU, read in the light of the second paragraph of Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, must be interpreted as meaning that a court or tribunal of a Member State against whose decisions there is no judicial remedy under national law must set out, in its decision refusing an application for leave to appeal on a point of law containing a request that a question concerning the interpretation or validity of a provision of EU law be referred to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling, the reasons why that reference was not made, namely that that question is irrelevant for the resolution of the dispute or that the provision of EU law in question has already been interpreted by the Court or that the correct interpretation of EU law is so obvious as to leave no scope for any reasonable doubt.

  • Paragraphs referring to EU Charter

    61. By its second question, the referring court asks, in essence, whether Article 267 TFEU, read in the light of the second paragraph of Article 47 of the Charter, must be interpreted as meaning that a court or tribunal of a Member State against whose decisions there is no judicial remedy under national law must set out, in its decision refusing an application for leave to appeal on a point of law containing a request that a question concerning the interpretation or validity of a provision of EU law be referred to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling, the reasons why that reference was not made.

    62. In that regard, it must be noted that it follows from the system established by Article 267 TFEU, read in the light of the second paragraph of Article 47 of the Charter, that, if a court or tribunal of a Member State against whose decisions there is no judicial remedy under national law takes the view, because the case before it involves one of the three situations mentioned in paragraph 36 above, that it is relieved of its obligation to make a reference to the Court under the third paragraph of Article 267 TFEU, the statement of reasons for its decision must show either that the question of EU law raised is irrelevant for the resolution of the dispute, or that the interpretation of the EU law provision concerned is based on the Court’s case-law or, in the absence of such case-law, that the interpretation of EU law was so obvious to the national court or tribunal of last instance as to leave no scope for any reasonable doubt (judgment of 6 October 2021, Consorzio Italian Management and Catania Multiservizi, C‑561/19, EU:C:2021:799, paragraph 51).

    ... 

    65. In the light of the above considerations, the answer to the second question is that Article 267 TFEU, read in the light of the second paragraph of Article 47 of the Charter, must be interpreted as meaning that a court or tribunal of a Member State against whose decisions there is no judicial remedy under national law must set out, in its decision refusing an application for leave to appeal on a point of law containing a request that a question concerning the interpretation or validity of a provision of EU law be referred to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling, the reasons why that reference was not made, namely that that question is irrelevant for the resolution of the dispute or that the provision of EU law in question has already been interpreted by the Court or that the correct interpretation of EU law is so obvious as to leave no scope for any reasonable doubt.

  • Paragraphs referring to EU Charter (original language)