Case C-347/21: Judgment of the Court (Eighth Chamber) of 15 September 2022 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Spetsializiran nakazatelen sad — Bulgaria) — Criminal proceedings against DD (Reference for a preliminary ruling — Judicial cooperation in criminal matters — Directive (EU) 2016/343 — Strengthening of certain aspects of the presumption of innocence and of the right to be present at the trial in criminal proceedings — Article 8(1) — Right of an accused person to be present at the trial — Examination of an incriminating witness in the absence of the accused person — Possibility of remedying the infringement of a right at a later stage in the proceedings — Additional examination of the same witness — Directive 2013/48/EU — Right of access to a lawyer in criminal proceedings — Article 3(1) — Examination of an incriminating witness in the absence of the lawyer of the accused person)
Date: 2022-09-15
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: charge, criminal proceedings, evidence, judicial cooperation in criminal matters in the EU, lawyer, right to justice, rights of the defence








C_2022418EN.01001002.xml










31.10.2022   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 418/10






Judgment of the Court (Eighth Chamber) of 15 September 2022 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Spetsializiran nakazatelen sad — Bulgaria) — Criminal proceedings against DD
(Case C-347/21) (1)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Judicial cooperation in criminal matters - Directive (EU) 2016/343 - Strengthening of certain aspects of the presumption of innocence and of the right to be present at the trial in criminal proceedings - Article 8(1) - Right of an accused person to be present at the trial - Examination of an incriminating witness in the absence of the accused person - Possibility of remedying the infringement of a right at a later stage in the proceedings - Additional examination of the same witness - Directive 2013/48/EU - Right of access to a lawyer in criminal proceedings - Article 3(1) - Examination of an incriminating witness in the absence of the lawyer of the accused person)
(2022/C 418/13)
Language of the case: Bulgarian

Referring court

Spetsializiran nakazatelen sad

Party in the main proceedings

DD

Intervening party: Spetsializirana prokuratura

Operative part of the judgment

Article 8(1) of Directive (EU) 2016/343 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2016 on the strengthening of certain aspects of the presumption of innocence and of the right to be present at the trial in criminal proceedings and Article 3(1) of 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,
must be interpreted as meaning that where, in order to ensure that the right of the accused person to be present at his or her trial and his or her right of access to a lawyer are safeguarded, the national court carries out an additional examination of an incriminating witness since, for reasons beyond their control, the accused person and his or her lawyer could not be present at the previous examination of that witness, it is sufficient that the accused person and his or her lawyer be able freely to question that witness, providing, prior to that additional examination, the accused person and his or her lawyer were sent a copy of the minutes of the previous examination of that witness. In those circumstances, it is not necessary to repeat in its entirety, thereby invalidating the procedural steps taken during that examination, the examination which took place in the absence of the accused person and his or her lawyer.


(1)  OJ C 338, 23.8.2021.