HYA and Others

Summary C-348/21 – 1 Case C-348/21 Summary of the request for a preliminary ruling pursuant to Article 98(1) of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice Date lodged: 4 June 2021 Referring court: Spetsializiran nakazatelen sad (Bulgaria) Date of the decision to refer: 3 June 2021 Accused persons: SS HYA IA DD ZI Other party: Spetsializirana prokuratura (Bulgaria) Subject matter of the main proceedings Assessment of whether national legislation which provides for a procedure in which witnesses material to the outcome of the case are de facto examined in the absence of the defence is compatible with EU law. Subject matter and legal basis of the request for a preliminary ruling The request is made in accordance with point (b) of the first paragraph of Article 267 TFEU. EN SUMMARY OF THE REQUEST FOR A PRELIMINARY RULING – CASE C-348/21 Question referred for a preliminary ruling Is a national law which provides that the right of an accused person to be present in proceedings is safeguarded and the public prosecutor’s office properly discharges its obligation to prove the guilt of the accused person compatible with Articles 8(1) and 6(1) of Directive 2016/343, read in conjunction with recitals 33 and 34 thereof, and the second paragraph of Article 47 of the Charter if the testimony given at the pre-trial stage of the proceedings by witnesses who cannot be examined for objective reasons is introduced at the trial stage of the criminal...