In the case of Dumitru-Tudor Dorobantu (15.10.2019), a Grand Chamber of the CJEU confirmed and specified its case-law on the execution of a European arrest warrant in the face of a real risk of inhuman or degrading treatment, in this case a risk arising out of the conditions of detention in the issuing Member State. Relying on Article 52(3) of the EU-Charter, the CJEU confirmed the absolute nature of the prohibition of ill-treatment as it resulted from Article 4 of the EU-Charter, which corresponded to Article 3 of the Convention. Still on the basis of Article 52(3) of the EU-Charter, the CJEU referred to the Mursic-jurisprudence of the ECHR (20.10.2016) for the assessment of the level of severity of conditions of detention. Interestingly, in § 57 of its judgment the CJEU also relied on the Romeo Castaño-jurisprudence of the ECHR (see below), holding that under the Convention, the refusal by a Member State to execute a European arrest warrant by reason of a risk of ill-treatment in the issuing State had to be based on an up-to-date and detailed examination of the situation as it existed at the time of the decision not to execute the warrant. The CJEU thereby apparently ignored the fact that the Romeo Castaño-jurisprudence has so far only been applied by the ECHR in respect of criminal proceedings falling under the scope of Article 2 of the Convention, i.e. in the event of a homicide, which is not the case in Dorobantu.

In Gambino and Hyka (29.7.2019) the CJEU, relying on Articles 47 and 48 of the Charter and, by virtue of Article 52(3) of the Charter, on the case-law of the ECHR on the right to a fair trial (Article 6 of the Convention), ruled that Articles 16 and 18 of Directive 2012/29/EU on the rights of victims of crime do not prevent the victim of a criminal offence from having to be heard a second time following a change in the composition of the bench, if one of the parties to the proceedings so wishes.

In Funke Medien NRW GmbH v. Bundesrepublik Deutschland (29.7.2019) a Grand Chamber of the CJEU applied Directive 2001/29/EC (on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society) to a set of facts concerning the publication by a newspaper of certain documents “classified for restricted access” drawn up by the German Government and relating to the operation of the German army in Afghanistan. In examining the scope of the exceptions for the benefit of the press and the information of the public, provided for in Article 5 of the directive, the CJEU stated the need for a fair balance to be struck between the protection of intellectual property (Article 17(2) of the Charter) and the freedom of expression and information (Article 11 of the Charter). In this connection, the CJEU referred, by virtue of Article 52(3) of the Charter, to the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights according to which, in balancing copyright against freedom of expression, due consideration was to be given to the nature of the expression or information at stake and in particular to the question whether it concerned matters of public interest. Given that the CJEU leaves it to the national courts to strike this balance which, at the end of the day, can be challenged by way of an application to the Strasbourg Court against the final domestic judgment, reliance by the CJEU on the Strasbourg case-law would appear to also serve the interests of domestic judges.

In TC (12.2.2019) the CJEU examines in light of Article 6 of the EU-Charter and 5 of the Convention whether the time-limits for adoption of the decision to execute a European Arrest Warrant can be suspended.

In Jawo v. Bundesrepublik Deutschland (19.3.2019) the CJEU inter alia further specifies the impact of Article 4 of the EU-Charter on the execution of the Dublin Regulation and draws on the M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece judgment of the ECHR. It also describes the relationship between systemic deficiencies in the asylum procedure of a Member State and the requirement of an individual assessment of the situation of asylum seekers.