Criminal proceedings against X.
Date: 1996-12-12
18 The Court has held that reference may be made to it under Article 177 only by a body required to give a ruling in complete independence in proceedings which are intended to result in a judicial decision (see, for example, Case 14/86 Pretore di Salò v Persons Unknown [1987] ECR 2545, paragraph 7, Case C-393/92 Almelo and Others v Energiebedrijf Ijsselmij [1994] ECR I-1477, paragraph 21, Case 138/80 Borker [1980] ECR 1975, paragraph 4, and Case 318/85 Greis Unterweger [1986] ECR 955, paragraph 4).
21 It must first be noted that the Court cannot, in proceedings under Article 177 of the Treaty, rule whether a measure of national law is valid from the point of view of Community law, as it might in proceedings under Article 169 (see, for example, Case 6/64 Costa v ENEL [1964] ECR 585). It is, however, competent to provide the national court with all criteria for the interpretation of Community law which may enable that court to determine the issue of compatibility for the purposes of the decision in the case before it (see, for example, Case 223/78 Grosoli [1979] ECR 2621, paragraph 3).
23 It has consistently been held (see, for example, Case C-168/95 Arcaro [1996] ECR I-0000, paragraph 36) that a directive may not of itself create obligations for an individual and that a provision of a directive may not therefore, as such, be relied upon against such a person.
24 It is true that the national court must apply its domestic law as far as possible in the light of the wording and the purpose of the Directive so as to achieve the result it seeks to achieve and thereby comply with the third paragraph of Article 189 of the Treaty (see, for example, Case C-91/92 Faccini Dori v Recreb [1994] ECR I-3325, paragraph 26).  However, that obligation on the national court to refer to the content of the Directive when interpreting the relevant rules of its national law is not unlimited, particularly where such interpretation would have the effect, on the basis of the Directive and independently of legislation adopted for its implementation, of determining or aggravating the liability in criminal law of persons who act in contravention of its provisions (see, in particular, Case 80/86 Kolpinghuis Nijmegen [1987] ECR 3969, paragraph 13).
25 More specifically, in a case such as that in the main proceedings, which concerns the extent of liability in criminal law arising under legislation adopted for the specific purpose of implementing a directive, the principle that a provision of the criminal law may not be applied extensively to the detriment of the defendant, which is the corollary of the principle of legality in relation to crime and punishment and more generally of the principle of legal certainty, precludes bringing criminal proceedings in respect of conduct not clearly defined as culpable by law. That principle, which is one of the general legal principles underlying the constitutional traditions common to the Member States, has also been enshrined in various international treaties, in particular in Article 7 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (see, inter alia, the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in Kokkinakis v Greece, 25 May 1993, Series A, No 260-A, paragraph 52, and in S.W. v United Kingdom and C.R. v United Kingdom, 22 November 1995, Series A, No 335-B, paragraph 35, and No 335-C, paragraph 33).
26 The national court must therefore ensure that that principle is observed when interpreting, in the light of the wording and the purpose of the Directive, the national legislation adopted in order to implement it.