Judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-107/23

PRESS RELEASE No 129/23 Luxembourg, 24 July 2023 Judgment of the Court in Case C-107/23 PPU | Lin 1 Combating fraud against the European Union’s financial interests: national rules on limitation periods for criminal liability must allow effective prevention and punishment National courts are required, in principle, to disregard national rules or case-law which create a systemic risk of such offences going unpunished Several Romanian nationals sentenced to terms of imprisonment for tax evasion, concerning inter alia value added tax (VAT), lodged an appeal before the Court of Appeal of Brașov (Romania) challenging their final convictions on the basis that the limitation period for their criminal liability had expired. In support of their position, those convicted persons relied, inter alia, on two judgments of the Romanian Constitutional Court (delivered in 2018 and 2022), which had invalidated a national provision governing the grounds for interrupting the limitation period in criminal matters, that is to say procedural acts or decisions which interrupt the limitation period for criminal liability. Following those judgments, during a period of almost four years, Romanian law did not provide for any ground for interrupting that limitation period. In practical terms, that meant that, during that period, and in accordance with the Romanian conception of the principle that offences and penalties must be defined by law including rules on limitation periods,...