To give judicial practitioners more guidance, Eurojust has published an updated overview of case law by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on the principle of ne bis in idem, which prohibits duplication of criminal proceedings for the same offence against the same person. The new document provides summaries on five additional CJEU judgments, compared to the previous edition of 2017. In total, information is available now on 20 judgments dating from 2003 up to 15 March 2020.

The latest update gives an overview of the different provisions regulating the principle of ne bis in idem and the relationships between them. Furthermore, it provides insight in the material and temporary scope of the principle and in its possible limitations. It contains summaries of the judgments of the CJEU, categorised according to particular keywords, reflecting the main elements of the ne bis in idem principle.

The overview and summaries of judgments are not exhaustive. The update can serve as a reference and supplementary tool for practitioners who face questions on the principle of no duplication of judicial proceedings for the same crime and same suspect. The new document has been prepared by Eurojust and does not bind the CJEU. All summaries contain links to the full texts of the relevant judgments of the CJEU, which are available in all official EU languages on the website of the Court.

See also:

• The executive summary in all EU languages of this latest practitioners' overview of case law on ne bis in idem