Case C-282/20: Judgment of the Court (Tenth Chamber) of 21 October 2021 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Spetsializiran nakazatelen sad — Bulgaria) — Criminal proceedings against ZX (Reference for a preliminary ruling — Judicial cooperation in criminal matters — Directive 2012/13/EU — Right to information in criminal proceedings — Article 6(3) — Rights of suspects or accused persons to be informed of their rights — Articles 47 and 48 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union — National law not providing for a procedural mechanism for remedying errors and omissions in the content of the indictment)
Date: 2021-10-21
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: charge, criminal proceedings, judicial cooperation in criminal matters in the EU, right to information, right to justice, rights of the defence








C_2021513EN.01001101.xml










20.12.2021   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 513/11






Judgment of the Court (Tenth Chamber) of 21 October 2021 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Spetsializiran nakazatelen sad — Bulgaria) — Criminal proceedings against ZX
(Case C-282/20) (1)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Judicial cooperation in criminal matters - Directive 2012/13/EU - Right to information in criminal proceedings - Article 6(3) - Rights of suspects or accused persons to be informed of their rights - Articles 47 and 48 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union - National law not providing for a procedural mechanism for remedying errors and omissions in the content of the indictment)
(2021/C 513/17)
Language of the case: Bulgarian

Referring court

Spetsializiran nakazatelen sad

Party in the main proceedings

ZX

other party to the proceedings: Spetsializirana prokuratura

Operative part of the judgment







1.


Article 6(3) of Directive 2012/13/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2012 on the right to information in criminal proceedings and Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union must be interpreted as precluding national legislation which does not provide for a procedural means of remedying, errors and deficiencies in the indictment which prejudice the right of the accused person to be provided with detailed information about the charges following the pre-trial hearing in a criminal case;










2.


Article 6(3) of Directive 2012/13 and Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union must be interpreted as requiring the referring court to give an interpretation of the national rules on the amendment of the charges, as far as possible in a manner consistent with that law, so as to enable the prosecutor to remedy errors and omissions in the content of the indictment at the trial, while at the same time actively and genuinely safeguarding the rights of the defence of the accused person. Only if the referring court considers that such an interpretation is not possible should it disregard the national provision prohibiting the suspension of court proceedings and refer the case back to the public prosecutor in order for the latter to draw up a new indictment.






(1)  OJ C 287, 31.8.2020.