The Court of Justice of the EU ruled on Wednesday 5 April that it is possible to bring a criminal prosecution against a natural person whose company has already had penalties imposed for tax irregularities.
In two joint cases (C-217/15 and C-350/15), an Italian court sought the advice of the Court of Justice on whether criminal proceedings could be brought against two individuals for an infringement on which their companies had already had a penalty imposed. It had to be determined whether the ne bis in idem principle, under which no one may face criminal charges or sanctions twice for the same facts, applied in this particular case.
In its judgment, the Court ruled that this principle was not relevant in these cases because it applies only to the same person. In these two cases, however, the penalties were imposed on two companies, which are “legal persons”, whereas the criminal proceedings at issue have been brought against two “natural persons”. It follows that the financial penalty for tax irregularities and the criminal proceedings relate to different persons, so that the condition that the sanctions or proceedings must be against the same person has not been fulfilled. (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)