Criminal proceedings against Dániel Bertold Lada.
Date: 2018-07-05
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It must be noted, to begin with, that Article 1(1) of Framework Decision 2008/675 provides that the purpose of the framework decision is to determine the conditions under which previous convictions handed down in one Member State against a person are taken into account in the course of new criminal proceedings brought in another Member State against the same person for different facts (judgment of 21 September 2017, Beshkov, C‑171/16, EU:C:2017:710, paragraph 25).
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To that end, Article 3(1) of Framework Decision 2008/675, read in the light of recital 5, obliges Member States to ensure that, when such criminal proceedings are brought, previous convictions handed down in other Member States, in respect of which information has been obtained under applicable instruments on mutual legal assistance or on the exchange of information extracted from criminal records, are taken into account to the extent that previous national convictions are taken into account under national law, and that the legal effects attached to them are equivalent to those attached to previous national convictions, in accordance with national law, whether in relation to questions of fact or questions of substantive or procedural law (judgment of 21 September 2017, Beshkov, C‑171/16, EU:C:2017:710, paragraph 26).
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Article 3(2) of the framework decision states that that obligation is to apply at the pre-trial stage, at the trial stage itself and at the time of execution of the conviction, in particular with regard to the applicable rules of procedure, including the rules relating to the definition of the offence, the type and level of the sentence, and the rules governing the execution of the decision. Thus recitals 2 and 7 of the framework decision state that a national court must be able to take account of convictions handed down in other Member States, including for the purpose of determining what arrangements for enforcement may be implemented, and that the effects of those convictions should be equivalent to the effects of national decisions at each of those procedural stages (judgment of 21 September 2017, Beshkov, C‑171/16, EU:C:2017:710, paragraph 27).
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In this respect, it must be noted that a special procedure for recognition laid down by a Member State, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which, with respect to a previous conviction handed down by a court of another Member State, imposes an obligation to ascertain whether that court observed the fundamental rights of the person concerned is liable, in the absence of exceptional circumstances, to call in question the principle of mutual trust and hence one of the objectives of Framework Decision 2008/675 (see, to that effect, Opinion 2/13 (Accession of the EU to the ECHR) of 18 December 2014, EU:C:2014:2454, paragraph 191, and judgment of 5 April 2016, Aranyosi and Căldăraru, C‑404/15 and C‑659/15 PPU, EU:C:2016:198, paragraph 78).
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More particularly, that framework decision, as recital 2 states, aims to implement the principle of mutual recognition of judgments and judicial decisions in criminal matters, enshrined in Article 82(1) TFEU, which replaced Article 31 TEU, on the basis of which the framework decision was adopted. That principle precludes the taking into account, in the context of that framework decision, of a previous conviction by a court in another Member State being conditional on the implementation of a national procedure for prior recognition, and precludes that conviction being reviewed in that procedure (see, to that effect, judgment of 21 September 2017, Beshkov, C‑171/16, EU:C:2017:710, paragraph 36 and the case-law cited).
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Article 3(3) of Framework Decision 2008/675 thus expressly proscribes any review such as that at issue in the main proceedings, since previous convictions in other Member States must be taken into account in the terms in which they were handed down (see, by analogy, judgment of 21 September 2017, Beshkov, C‑171/16, EU:C:2017:710, paragraph 37).
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So, although the framework decision does not prevent a Member State from taking a decision, if necessary, in order to attach equivalent legal effects to a previous conviction handed down in another Member State, the adoption of such a decision cannot, however, in any event involve the implementation of a national special procedure for prior recognition such as that at issue in the main proceedings (see, by analogy, judgment of 21 September 2017, Beshkov, C‑171/16, EU:C:2017:710, paragraph 38).
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Moreover, in the judgment of 9 June 2016, Balogh (C‑25/15, EU:C:2016:423, paragraphs 53 and 55), the Court previously held that Framework Decision 2009/315 and Decision 2009/316 must be interpreted as precluding the implementation of national legislation establishing a special procedure for recognition of foreign judgments, such as that provided for by Paragraphs 46 to 48 of the Hungarian Law on international judicial assistance in criminal matters, on the grounds in particular that such a procedure prior to the entry of those convictions in the criminal record, which, moreover, requires the transmission and translation of those judgments, is likely to delay that entry considerably, complicate the exchange of information between Member States, deprive the automatic translation system established by Decision 2009/316 of any effectiveness, and thus jeopardise the attainment of the objectives pursued by Framework Decision 2009/315 and Decision 2009/316.