Jurisdiction of the Court of Justice in Police and Criminal Matters: Article 35 TEU

Back in December 2005, we noted here the state of play on declarations accepting the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice to give preliminary rulings on the acts referred to in Article 35 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU). Those are the acts adopted under Title VI of that Treaty dealing with police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters.

There have been new declarations by Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia. See also the notice from the Council about them.

Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia now accept the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice to give preliminary rulings on the validity and interpretation of framework decisions and decisions, on the interpretation of conventions established under Title VI and on the validity and interpretation of the measures implementing them. Moreover, they have declared that any of their national courts or tribunals may refer questions (under Article 35 § 3 (b)).

Slovenia has accepted that its courts of last resort are obliged to refer preliminary questions to the Court of Justice (under art. 35 §1).

Hungary, for its part, has withdrawn its previous declaration in which it accept the jurisdiction for its courts of last resort only (under art. 35 §3(a)).

For ease of reference (and because nobody else seems to have taken the trouble), the current situation for each member State that has accepted jurisdiction is as follows:

Austria: Any court (art. 35 §3(b)) - declaration here - Obliged to refer.

Belgium: Any court (art. 35 §3(b)) - declaration here - Obliged to refer.

Czech Republic: Any court (art. 35 §3(b)) - declaration here (at p. 980) - Obliged to refer (at p. 980).

Finland: Any court (art. 35 §3(b)) - declaration here.

France:Any court (art. 35 §3(b)) - declaration here - Obliged to refer.

Germany: Any court (art. 35 §3(b)) - declaration here - Obliged to refer.

Greece: Any court (art. 35 §3(b)) - declaration here.

Hungary: Any court (art. 35 §3(b)) - declaration here.

Italy: Any court (art. 35 §3(b)) - declaration here - Obliged to refer.

Latvia: Any court (art. 35 §3(b)) - declaration here.

Lithuania: Any court (art. 35 §3(b)) - declaration here.

Luxembourg: Any court (art. 35 §3(b)) - declaration here - Obliged to refer.

Netherlands: Any court (art. 35 §3(b)) - declaration here - Obliged to refer.

Portugal: Any court (art. 35 §3(b)) - declaration here.

Slovenia: Any court (art. 35 §3(b)) - declaration here - Obliged to refer.

Spain: Court of last resort (art. 35 §3(a)) - declaration here - Obliged to refer.

Sweden: Any court (art. 35 §3(b)) - declaration here.