Criminal proceedings against Massimo Orsi and Luciano Baldetti.
Date: 2017-04-05
15


Since the referring court refers not only to Article 50 of the Charter, but also to Article 4 of Protocol No 7 to the ECHR, it should be noted that whilst, as Article 6(3) TEU confirms, fundamental rights recognised by the ECHR constitute general principles of the European Union’s law and whilst Article 52(3) of the Charter provides that the rights contained in the Charter which correspond to rights guaranteed by the ECHR are to have the same meaning and scope as those laid down by that convention, the latter does not constitute, as long as the European Union has not acceded to it, a legal instrument which has been formally incorporated into EU law (judgments of 26 February 2013, Åkerberg Fransson, C‑617/10, EU:C:2013:105, paragraph 44, and of 15 February 2016, N., C‑601/15 PPU, EU:C:2016:84, paragraph 45 and the case-law cited). Therefore, the examination of the question referred must be undertaken solely in the light of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Charter (see, to that effect, judgments of 28 July 2016, Conseil des ministres, C‑543/14, EU:C:2016:605, paragraph 23 and the case-law cited, and of 6 October 2016, Paoletti and Others, C‑218/15, EU:C:2016:748, paragraph 22).
16


As regards Article 50 of the Charter, it should be noted that tax penalties and criminal proceedings, such as those at issue in the main proceedings, which concern offences relating to VAT and seek to ensure the correct collection of that tax and to avoid fraud, constitute implementation of Articles 2 and 273 of Directive 2006/112 and of Article 325 TFEU and, therefore, of European Union law for the purposes of Article 51(1) of the Charter (see, to that effect, judgments of 26 February 2013, Åkerberg Fransson, C‑617/10, EU:C:2013:105, paragraphs 24 to 27, and of 8 September 2015, Taricco and Others, C‑105/14, EU:C:2015:555, paragraphs 49, 52 and 53). Therefore, since provisions of national law dealing with criminal proceedings concern offences relating to VAT, such as those at issue in the main proceedings, they come within the scope of application of Article 50 of the Charter.
18


It follows from the wording itself of that article, according to which ‘[n]o one shall be liable to be tried or punished again in criminal proceedings for an offence for which he or she has already been finally acquitted or convicted within the Union in accordance with the law’, that it prohibits prosecuting or imposing criminal sanctions on the same person more than once for the same offence.
19


That interpretation of Article 50 of the Charter is supported by the explanations relating to the Charter of Fundamental Rights (OJ 2007 C 303, p. 17), which must be taken into account with a view to its interpretation (see, to that effect, judgment of 26 February 2013, Åkerberg Fransson, C‑617/10, EU:C:2013:105, paragraph 20). Concerning that article, those explanations refer to the Court’s case-law relating to the ne bis in idem principle, as recognised as a general principle of European Union law prior to the entry into force of the Charter. According to that case-law, that principle cannot, in any event, be infringed if it is not the same person who was sanctioned more than once for the same unlawful act (see, to that effect, inter alia, judgments of 7 January 2004, Aalborg Portland and Others v Commission, C‑204/00 P, C‑205/00 P, C‑211/00 P, C‑213/00 P, C‑217/00 P and C‑219/00 P, EU:C:2004:6, paragraph 338, and of 18 December 2008, Coop de France bétail et viande and Others v Commission, C‑101/07 P and C‑110/07 P, EU:C:2008:741, paragraph 127).
20


The Court confirmed that case-law after the entry into force of the Charter (see, to that effect, judgment of 26 February 2013, Åkerberg Fransson, C‑617/10, EU:C:2013:105, paragraph 34).
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Finally, in accordance with Article 52(3) of the Charter, in so far as Article 50 thereof contains a right corresponding to that provided for in Article 4 of Protocol No 7 to the ECHR, it is necessary to ensure that the above interpretation of Article 50 thereof does not disregard the level of protection guaranteed by the ECHR (see, by analogy, judgment of 15 February 2016, N., C‑601/15 PPU, EU:C:2016:84, paragraph 77).