Gloss to the Judgement of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Case C-524/15, Criminal Proceedings against Luca Menci

This gloss discusses the position of the Court of Justice of the European Union taken in the judgment passed on 20 March 2018 in the case of Luca Menci (C-524/15) in reference to the restrictions of ne bis in idem principle. The main thesis of the Court concerned the admissibility of restrictions of ne bis in idem based on the principle of proportionality as a limitation clause and its accordance with the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The analysis of the right not to be tried or punished twice in Article 4 Protocol 7 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms allows us to formulate opposite conclusions. The application of the balancing test as a limitation clause for ne bis in idem, finds no support in the case-law of the ECtHR too. According to the Author, the position taken in Menci infringes Article 52(3) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, according to which the meaning and scope of the rights which correspond to rights guaranteed by the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms shall be at least be the same.