The appeal concerned a request to the Supreme Court for a preliminary ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) submitted by the applicant in criminal proceedings against him and the alleged absence of any reasoning by the Supreme Court which implicitly rejected this request.
The applicant argued that, despite the relevant jurisprudence of the Strasbourg Court, the Court of Cassation did not even respond to his request, regarding reasonable doubts as to the correct interpretation of the applicable law, for a preliminary ruling from the CJEU. Not only had the Supreme Court not considered the relevant criteria or provided reasons for its refusal to request a preliminary ruling, but it did not even mention the applicant’s request in its decision. The Court based its judgment on its established jurisprudence, according to which Article 6§1 imposes on national courts the obligation to give reasons, in the light of the applicable law, for decisions refusing to refer a preliminary question.
