EIT: Kun Italia ei pyytänyt EU-tuomioistuimelta ennakkoratkaisua eikä perustellut kieltäytymistään, rikottiin valittajan oikeutta oikeudenmukaiseen oikeudenkäyntiin

Euroopan ihmisoikeustuomioistuin (EIT) on antanut periaatteellisesti merkittävän ratkaisun jutussa, jossa oli kyse kansallisuuteen perustuvasta eriarvoisesta kohtelusta. EIT katsoi EIS 6 artiklaa loukatun, kun Italian kansalliset tuomioistuimet eivät olleet pyytänet tietystä oikeuskysymyksestä ennakkoratkaisua EU-tuomioistuimelta eivätkä antaneet kieltäytymiselleen mitään perusteita.

EIT:n lehdistötiedotteesta:

The Court reiterated that from the angle of Article 6, national courts whose decisions were not open to appeal under domestic law were required to give reasons, based on the applicable law and the exceptions laid down in ECJ case-law, for their refusal to refer a preliminary question on the interpretation of EU law. They should set out their reasons for considering that the question was not relevant, that the provision had already been interpreted by the ECJ, or that the correct application of EU law was so obvious as to leave no scope for reasonable doubt.

Therefore, when the Court considered complaints of violation of Article 6 in this context, it had to ensure that the domestic courts had duly provided the reasons for their decisions. In Mr Dhahbi’s case, since no appeal lay against its decisions under domestic law, the Court of Cassation had been required to give reasons for its refusal to refer the question whether, in the light of the exceptions provided for in CJEU case-law, it was possible under the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement for a Tunisian worker to be deprived of the family allowance provided under the 1998 Law. However, the judgment of 15 April 2008 had included a reference neither to the request for a preliminary ruling submitted by Mr Dhahbi nor to the reasons why the Court of Cassation had deemed that the question raised should not be referred to the ECJ.

Koko lehdistötiedote, missä myös linkki koko tuomioon, löytyy täältä: Dhahbi v. Italy