Official Journal of the European Union

C series

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C/2024/6054

21.10.2024

(Case C-603/22, (1) M.S. and Others (Procedural rights of a child))

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Judicial cooperation in criminal matters - Directive (EU) 2016/800 - Procedural safeguards for children who are suspects or accused persons in criminal proceedings - Scope - Article 2(3) - Persons who were children on the date on which criminal proceedings were initiated against them but who reach the age of 18 years during the proceedings - Article 4 - Right to information - Article 6 - Right of access to a lawyer - Article 18 - Right to legal aid - Article 19 - Remedies - Admissibility of evidence obtained in breach of procedural rights)

(C/2024/6054)

Language of the case: Polish

Referring court

Parties in the main proceedings

Other parties to the proceedings: Prokurator Rejonowy w Słupsku, D.G., acting as administrator appointed to act for M.B. and for B.B.

Operative part of the judgment

1.Article 6(1) to (3) of Directive (EU) 2016/800 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2016 on procedural safeguards for children who are suspects or accused persons in criminal proceedings, read in the light of Article 18 of that directive, must be interpreted as precluding national legislation which, first, does not provide for children who are suspects or accused persons to be assisted by a lawyer – a court-appointed lawyer if necessary – before being questioned by the police or by another law enforcement or judicial authority and, at the latest, before they are first questioned and, second, allows those children to be questioned as suspects in the absence of such a lawyer during their questioning.

2.Article 2(1) and (3) of Directive 2016/800 must be interpreted as precluding national legislation which provides that the right to be assisted by a court-appointed lawyer automatically ends for persons who were children at the time when they became the subject of criminal proceedings, but who have subsequently reached the age of 18, in so far as such legislation does not permit a determination of whether the application of that directive or of some of its provisions and, consequently, of the rights set out therein is appropriate in the light of all the circumstances of the case, including the maturity and vulnerability of those persons.

3.Article 4(1) of Directive 2016/800, read in conjunction with Article 5(1) of that directive, must be interpreted as precluding national legislation which does not provide that children who are suspects or accused persons in criminal proceedings are to receive, with the holder of parental responsibility, at the latest before those children are first questioned by the police or by another law enforcement or judicial authority, in simple and accessible language, which takes into account the specific needs and vulnerabilities of those children, information on their rights in accordance with Article 3 of Directive 2012/13/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2012 on the right to information in criminal proceedings, and on the rights established by Directive 2016/800.

4.Article 19 of Directive 2016/800 must be interpreted as not precluding national legislation which, in criminal proceedings, does not allow a court to declare as inadmissible incriminating evidence contained in statements made by a child during questioning by the police in breach of the right of access to a lawyer, provided for in Article 6 of Directive 2016/800, provided, however, that, in criminal proceedings, that court is in a position, first, to verify that that right, read in the light of Article 47 and Article 48(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, has been respected and, second, to draw all the inferences from that breach, in particular as regards the probative value of the evidence obtained in those circumstances.

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(1) OJ C 24, 23.1.2023.

ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/6054/oj

ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)

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