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= EPPO-Regulation
= Relevant iRoP and other annotations
Article 39 | Dismissal of the case
1. Where prosecution has become impossible, pursuant to the law of the Member State of the handling European Delegated Prosecutor, the Permanent Chamber shall, based on a report provided by the European Delegated Prosecutor handling the case in accordance with Article 35(1), decide to dismiss the case against a person on account of any of the following grounds:
(a) the death of the suspect or accused person or winding up of a suspect or accused legal person;
(b) the insanity of the suspect or accused person;
(c) amnesty granted to the suspect or accused person;
(d) immunity granted to the suspect or accused person, unless it has been lifted;
(e) expiry of the national statutory limitation to prosecute;
(f) the suspect’s or accused person’s case has already been finally disposed of in relation to the same acts;
(g) the lack of relevant evidence.
Article 55 | Delegation of powers to conclude cases
1. The Permanent Chamber may decide to delegate its decision-making power in accordance with Article 10(7) of the Regulation at any stage before the termination of the investigation. The decision may not be taken by written procedure. The decision shall be registered in the Case Management System and notified to the European Chief Prosecutor. If the European Chief Prosecutor is a member of the relevant Permanent Chamber, the Deputy European Chief Prosecutors shall be notified about the decision.
2. The request for review of this decision in accordance with Article 10(7), second subparagraph of the Regulation shall be communicated forthwith by the Case Management System to the supervising European Prosecutor and the handling European Delegated Prosecutor, who shall refrain thereafter from any act which may impair the effectiveness of the review.
3. The matter shall be decided by the Permanent Chamber without undue delay. The European Chief Prosecutor or, as the case may be, the Deputy European Chief Prosecutor, who has submitted the request, may attend the meeting of the Permanent Chamber on this matter. The College shall be notified of the request and of the outcome of the review procedure.
Article 56 | Termination of the investigation
– as amended by College Decision 026/2022 effective 30 August 2022
1. When the handling European Delegated Prosecutor considers the investigation to be completed, he/she shall provide a report containing, inter alia:
a) a summary of the facts that were the object of the investigation, as resulting from the existing evidence;
b) the legal qualification of the facts and their application to the specific case;
c) a reasoned proposal to prosecute, to apply a simplified prosecution procedure, to dismiss the case or to refer it to the competent national authorities;
d) if applicable, a proposal to join several cases and the court where the case should be brought to judgement;
e) any deadlines applicable under national law.
Where applicable, a draft of the indictment or proposal or decision to use a simplified procedure should be attached to the report.
This provision shall also apply to the European Prosecutor who is conducting the investigation personally in accordance with Article 28(4) of the Regulation.
2. The report and the draft decision provided by the European Delegated Prosecutor to be submitted to the Permanent Chamber shall be registered in the Case Management System, which shall notify the supervising European Prosecutor and all the members of the monitoring Permanent Chamber.
3. The report and the draft decision shall be submitted to the supervising European Prosecutor, who, within 10 days shall forward them to the Permanent Chamber, including any own observations he/she may have. Unless the draft decision by the European Delegated Prosecutor proposes to bring a case to judgment, the European Prosecutor may ask the chair of the Permanent Chamber for an extension of the 10-day deadline.
4. The chair of the Permanent Chamber shall decide the date when the report and the draft decision shall be discussed. When the European Delegated Prosecutor submits a draft decision proposing to bring a case to judgement, it shall be discussed at least 5 days before the expiration of the time limit prescribed by Article 36 (1) of the Regulation.
5. When the European Delegated Prosecutor submits a draft decision proposing to bring a case to judgement or to apply a simplified prosecution procedure, the decision of the Permanent Chamber cannot be adopted by written procedure.
6. The Permanent Chamber may adopt or amend the decision proposed by the European Delegated Prosecutor, may adopt a different decision or may instruct the European Delegated Prosecutor to continue the investigation, indicating the specific activities to be undertaken, in accordance with Article 46. If it deems necessary, it may also conduct its own review in line with Article 35(2) of the Regulation.
7. If a decision to dismiss the case has been adopted, the European Delegated Prosecutor shall undertake the notification and information required pursuant to Article 39(4) of the Regulation and note it in the Case Management System.
8. The report shall be submitted by the European Delegated Prosecutor in a manner which ensures the ability to comply with the deadlines foreseen in paragraphs 3 and 4, taking into account the existence of any deadlines applicable in line with national procedural laws. Where this is not possible, the report shall highlight this aspect, as well as giving reasons for it. The supervising European Prosecutor and the Permanent Chamber shall act accordingly.
9. In case the respectively competent Permanent Chamber has delegated its decision-making power in line with Article 55, the report under paragraph 1 shall be provided to the supervising European Prosecutor, who shall adopt the decision as proposed or after amending it as deemed appropriate. If the decision by the supervising European Prosecutor is to dismiss the case, Article 56(7) shall apply.
See on the EPPO’s guidelines for the delegation of decision making competences to the supervising European Prosecutor: Annex II of College Decision 023/2020
2. A decision in accordance with paragraph 1 shall not bar further investigations on the basis of new facts which were not known to the EPPO at the time of the decision and which become known after the decision. The decision to reopen investigations on the basis of such new facts shall be taken by the competent Permanent Chamber.
Article 59 | Reopening an investigation
1. If the EPPO receives information related to facts which were not known at the time of the decision to dismiss a case and which may warrant further investigation, the following rules shall apply.
2. The verification shall be assigned by the supervising European Prosecutor to the same European Delegated Prosecutor who conducted the investigation or, where appropriate, to a different European Delegated Prosecutor from the same Member State.
3. The European Delegated Prosecutor, following the assessment of the new facts, shall draw a report concerning their influence on the dismissal decision, specifying and taking into account any relevant provisions in the national law, and if any further investigative activity is deemed necessary.
4. The report and the corresponding draft decision shall be registered in the Case Management System, which shall assign it to the same Permanent Chamber which decided upon the dismissal, unless that Permanent Chamber no longer operates, in which case the Case Management System shall assign it randomly to a Permanent Chamber whose permanent members do not include the supervising European Prosecutor, in accordance with Article 19.
5. If the Permanent Chamber following from paragraph 4 above, or a national court or the European Court of Justice following the review of a dismissal decision decide that the EPPO should reopen the case, the supervising European Prosecutor shall assign a European Delegated Prosecutor to continue the investigation.
See on the functions and procedures of the Permanent Chambers in this respect: Annex to College Decision 027/2022, in particular its section III.7
3. Where the EPPO is competent in accordance with Article 22(3), it shall dismiss a case only after consultation with the national authorities of the Member State referred to in Article 25(6). If applicable, the Permanent Chamber shall refer the case to the competent national authorities in accordance with Article 34(6), (7) and (8).
The same applies where the EPPO exercises a competence in respect of offences referred to in points (a) and (b) of Article 3(2) of Directive (EU) 2017/1371 and where the damage caused or likely to be caused to the Union’s financial interests does not exceed the damage caused or likely to be caused to another victim.
Article 58 | Consultation with the national authorities
1. Where the European Delegated Prosecutor intends to propose the dismissal of a case in relation to an offence indicated by Article 22(3) of the Regulation in line with Article 39(3) of the Regulation, he/she shall notify the national authorities specified by the respective Member State in line with Article 25(6) of the Regulation.
2. Based on the observations received from the national authority within 20 days following the notification under paragraph 1 above, the European Delegated Prosecutor shall register the corresponding report and draft decision into the Case Management System.
4. Where a case has been dismissed, the EPPO shall officially notify the competent national authorities and shall inform the relevant institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the Union, as well as, where appropriate under national law, the suspects or accused persons and the crime victims, of such dismissal. The dismissed cases may also be referred to OLAF or to the competent national administrative or judicial authorities for recovery or other administrative follow-up.
Article 2 | Language arrangements
(…)
2. The communications, acts or decisions of the EPPO addressed to institutions, bodies, offices or agencies of the European Union shall be drafted in the working language for the operational and administrative activities. French shall be used along with English in the relations with the Court of Justice of the European Union.
3. Communication with persons involved in criminal proceedings, such as suspected or accused persons, victims and witnesses, or with other third parties, shall be made in the language required in accordance with the applicable national rules of criminal procedural law and, where applicable, in accordance with the relevant EU or international legal instruments for judicial cooperation in criminal matters. When necessary, the communication shall be accompanied by a translation in a language understood by the addressee.
(…)
Article 56 | Termination of the investigation
(…)
7. If a decision to dismiss the case has been adopted, the European Delegated Prosecutor shall undertake the notification and information required pursuant to Article 39(4) of the Regulation and note it in the Case Management System.
(…)
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Recital 83 of the EPPO Regulation
(83) This Regulation requires the EPPO to respect, in particular, the right to a fair trial, the rights of the defence and the presumption of innocence, as enshrined in Articles 47 and 48 of the Charter. Article 50 of the Charter, which protects the right not to be tried or punished twice in criminal proceedings for the same offence (ne bis in idem), ensures that there will be no double jeopardy as a result of the prosecutions brought by the EPPO. The activities of the EPPO should thus be exercised in full compliance with those rights and this Regulation should be applied and interpreted accordingly.
Recitals 36, 66, 81, 83 of the EPPO Regulation
(36) The Permanent Chambers should exercise their decision-making power at specific steps of the proceedings of the EPPO with a view to ensuring a common investigation and prosecution policy. They should adopt decisions on the basis of a draft decision proposed by the handling European Delegated Prosecutor. However, in exceptional cases, a Permanent Chamber should be able to adopt a decision without a draft decision of the handling European Delegated Prosecutor. In such cases, the European Prosecutor supervising the case may present such a draft decision.
(66) In order to ensure legal certainty and to effectively combat offences affecting the Union’s financial interests, the investigation and prosecution activities of the EPPO should be guided by the legality principle, whereby the EPPO applies strictly the rules laid down in this Regulation relating in particular to competence and its exercise, the initiation of investigations, the termination of investigations, the referral of a case, the dismissal of the case and simplified prosecution procedures.
(81) Taking into account the legality principle, the investigations of the EPPO should as a rule lead to prosecution in the competent national courts in cases where there is sufficient evidence and no legal ground bars prosecution, or where no simplified prosecution procedure has been applied. The grounds for dismissal of a case are exhaustively laid down in this Regulation.
(83) This Regulation requires the EPPO to respect, in particular, the right to a fair trial, the rights of the defence and the presumption of innocence, as enshrined in Articles 47 and 48 of the Charter. Article 50 of the Charter, which protects the right not to be tried or punished twice in criminal proceedings for the same offence (ne bis in idem), ensures that there will be no double jeopardy as a result of the prosecutions brought by the EPPO. The activities of the EPPO should thus be exercised in full compliance with those rights and this Regulation should be applied and interpreted accordingly.
Access to information by the EPPO | Article 43
Access to the case management system | Article 46
Administrative Director Status, appointment | Article 18
Administrative Director Responsiilities | Article 19
Administrative personal data | Article 48
Annual Reports of the EPPO | Article 7
Appointment and dismissal – Administrative Director | Article 18
Appointment and dismissal – European Delegated Prosecutors | Article 17
Appointment and dismissal – Deputy European Chief Prosecutors | Article 15
Appointment and dismissal – European Chief Prosecutors | Article 14
Appointment and dismissal – European Prosecutors | Article 16
Authorized access to operational personal data within the EPPO | Article 76
Automated individual decision-making, including profiling (data protection) | Article 56
Basic principles of the activities of the EPPO | Article 5
Budget | Article 91
Case files of the EPPO | Article 45
Case management system | Article 44
College | Article 9
Communication and modalities for exercising the rights of the data subject | Article 57
Communication of a personal data breach to the data subject | Article 75
Conducting the investigation | Article 28
Confidentiality and professional secrecy | Article 108
Cooperation between the EDPS and national supervisory authorities | Article 87
Cross-border investigations | Article 31
Data protection by design and by default (data protection) | Article 67
Data protection impact assessment | Article 71
Data Protection Officer of the EPPO – Designation of the data protection officer | Article 77
Data Protection Officer of the EPPO – Position of the data protection officer | Article 78
Data Protection Officer of the EPPO – Tasks of the data protection officer | Article 79
Definitions | Article 2
Delegated Commision Acts | Article 115
Deputy European Chief Prosecutors – Status and functions | Article 11
Deputy European Chief Prosecutors – Appointment and dismissal | Article 15
Dismissal of the case | Article 39
Disposition of confiscated assets | Article 38
Distinction between different categories of data subjects | Article 51
Distinction between personal data and verification of quality of personal data | Article 52
Enforcement of assigned measures | Article 32
Entry into force of the Regulation | Article 120
Establishment of the EPPO | Article 3
Establishment of the budget | Article 92
European Chief Prosecutor – Status and functions | Article 11
European Chief Prosecutor – Conditions of employment | Article 14
European Chief Prosecutor – Conditions of employment | Article 96(1)
European Data Protection Supervisor – Cooperation with the EDPS | Article 70
European Data Protection Supervisor – Prior consultation of the EDPS | Article 72
European Data Protection Supervisor – Notification of a personal data breach to the EDPS | Article 74
European Delegated Prosecutors – Status and functions | Article 13
European Delegated Prosecutors – Appointment and dismissal | Article 17
European Delegated Prosecutors – Conditions of employment | Article 96(6)
European Ombudsman | Article 112
European Prosecutors – Status and functions | Article 12
European Prosecutors – Appointment and dismissal | Article 16
European Prosecutors – Conditions of employment | Article 96(1)
Evidence | Article 37
Exercise of rights by the data subject and verification by the European Data Protection Supervisor | Article 62
Exercise of the competence of the EPPO | Article 25
Financial actors | Article 90
Financial rules | Article 95
Staff provisions – general principles | Article 96
General regime of liability | Article 113
Implementation of the budget | Article 93
Implementing rules and programme documents | Article 114
Independence and accountability | Article 6
Information to be made available or given to the data subject | Article 58
Initiation of investigations and allocation of competences within the EPPO | Article 26
Internal rules of procedure of the EPPO | Article 21
Joint controllers (data protection) | Article 64
Judicial review | Article 42
Language arrangements | Article 107
Legal status and operating conditions | Article 106
Lifting priviliges or immunities | Article 29
Limitations of the right of access (data protection) | Article 60
Logging in respect of automated processing (data protection) | Article 69
Material competence of the EPPO | Article 22
Notifications by Member States | Article 117
Obligations of the EPPO (data protection) | Article 63
OLAF and the Court of Auditors | Article 110
Permanent Chambers | Article 10
Pre-trial arrest and cross-border surrender | Article 33
Presentation of accounts and discharge | Article 94
Principles relating to processing of personal data | Article 47
Processing of operational personal data | Article 49
Processing of spedial categories of operational personal data | Article 55
Processing under the authority of the controller or processor | Article 66
Processor (data protection) | Article 65
Professional secrecy of the EDPS | Article 86
Prosecution before national Courts | Article 36
Provisional administrative arrangements of the EPPO | Article 20
Records of categories of processing activities (data protection) | Article 68
Referrals and transfers of proceedings to the national authorities | Article 34
Relations of the EPPO with its partners – Common provisions | Article 99
Relations of the EPPO with its partners – Eurojust | Article 100
Relations of the EPPO with its partners – Europol | Article 102
Relations of the EPPO with its partners – Non-participating Member States | Article 105
Relations of the EPPO with its partners – OLAF | Article 101
Relations of the EPPO with its partners – Institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the Union | Article 103
Relations of the EPPO with its partners – Third countries and international organisation | Article 104
Reporting, registration and verification of information | Article 24
Review clause | Article 119
Review of the rules on data protection | Article 118
Right of evocation | Article 27
Right to judicial review against the EDPS | Article 89
Right to lodge a compliant with the EDPS | Article 88
Right to rectification or erasure of operational personal data and restriction of data processing | Article 61
Rights of access by the data subject | Article 59
Rules on investigation measures and other measures | Article 30
Rules on protection of sensitive non-classified and classified information | Article 111
Scope of the rights of the suspects and accused persons | Article 41
Seconded experts and other staff | Article 98
Security of processing of operational personal data | Article 73
Simplified prosecution procedures | Article 40
Specific processing conditions (data protection) | Article 53
Structure of the EPPO | Article 8
Subject matter | Article 1
Supervision by the European Data Protection Supervisor | Article 85
Tasks of the EPPO | Article 4
Temporary agents and contract agents | Article 98
Termination of the investigation | Article 35
Territorial and personal competence of the EPPO | Article 23
Time-limits for the storage of operational personal data | Article 50
Transfers of operational personal data – General principles for transfers of operational personal data | Article 80
Transfers of operational personal data – Transfers on the basis of an adequacy decision | Article 81
Transfers of operational personal data – Transfers subject to appropriate safeguards | Article 82
Transfers of operational personal data – Derogations for specific situations | Article 83
Transfers of operational personal data – Transfers to recipients established in third countries | Article 84
Transmission of operational personal data to institutions, bodes, offices and agencies of the Union | Article 54
Transparency | Article 109
Urgency procedure in case of Delegated Commission Acts | Article 116
Chapter I … Subject Matter and definitions
Chapter II … Establishment, tasks and basic principles of the EPPO
Article 5 … Basic principles of the activities
Article 6 … Independence and accountability
Chapter III … Status, structure and organisation of the EPPO
Section 1 … Status and structure of the EPPO
Article 8 … Structure of the EPPO
Article 10 … The Permanent Chambers
Article 11 … The European Chief Prosecutor and the Deputy European Chief Prosecutors
Article 12 … The European Prosecutors
Article 13 … The European Delegated Prosecutors
Section 2 … Appointment and dismissal of the members of the EPPO
Article 14 … Appointment and dismissal of the European Chief Prosecutor
Article 15 … Appointment and dismissal of the Deputy European Chief Prosecutors
Article 16 … Appointment and dismissal of the European Prosecutors
Article 17 … Appointment and dismissal of the European Delegated Prosecutors
Article 18 … Status of the Administrative Director
Article 19 … Responsibilities of the Administrative Director
Article 20 … Provisional administrative arrangements of the EPPO
Section 3 … Internal rules of procedure of the EPPO
Article 21 … Internal rules of procedure of the EPPO
Chapter IV … Competence and exercise of the competence of the EPPO
Section 1 … Competence of the EPPO
Article 22 … Material competence of the EPPO
Article 23 … Territorial and personal competence of the EPPO
Section 2 … Exercise of the competence of the EPPO
Article 24 … Reporting, registration and verification of information
Article 25 … Exercise of the competence of the EPPO
Chapter V … Rules of procedure on investigations, investigation measures, prosecution and alternatives to prosecution
Section 1 … Rules on investigations
Article 26 … Initiation of investigations and allocation of competences within the EPPO
Article 27 … Right of evocation
Article 28 … Conducting the investigation
Article 29 … Lifting priviliges or immunities
Section 2 … Rules on investigation measures and other measures
Article 30 … Investigation measures and other measures
Article 31 … Cross-boder investigations
Article 32 … Enforcement of assigned measures
Article 33 … Pre-trial arrest and cross-border surrender
Section 3 … Rules on prosecution
Article 34 … Referrals and transfers of proceedings to the national authorities
Article 35 … Termination of the investigation
Article 36 … Prosecution before national Courts
Article 38 … Disposition of confiscated assets
Section 4 … Rules on alternatives to prosecution
Article 39 … Dismissal of the case
Section 5 … Rules on simplified procedures
Article 40 … Simplified prosecution procedures
Chapter VI … Procedural safeguards
Article 41 … Scope of the rights of the suspects and accused persons
Chapter VII … Processing of information
Article 43 … Access to information by the EPPO
Article 44 … Case management system
Article 45 … Case files of the EPPO
Article 46 … Access to the case management system
Chapter VIII … Data protection
[Section 1 … Principles]
Article 47 … Principles relating to processing of personal data
Article 48 … Administrative personal data
Article 49 … Processing of operational personal data
Article 50 … Time-limits for the storage of operational personal data
Article 51 … Distinction between different categories of data subjects
Article 52 … Distinction between personal data and verification of quality of personal data
Article 53 … Specific processing conditions
Article 55 … Processing of spedial categories of operational personal data
Article 56 … Automated individual decision-making, including profiling
[Section 2 … Rights of the data subject]
Article 57 … Communication and modalities for exercising the rights of the data subject
Article 58 … Information to be made availiable or given to the data subject
Article 59 … Rights of access by the data subject
Article 60 … Limitations of the right of access
[Section 3 … Controller and processor]
Article 63 … Obligations of the EPPO
Article 64 … Joint controllers
Article 66 … Processing under the authority of the controller or processor
Article 67 … Data protection by design and by default
Article 68 … Records of categories of processing activities
Article 69 … Logging in respect of automated processing
Article 70 … Cooperation with the European Data Protection Supervisor
Article 71 … Data protection impact assessment
Article 72 … Prior consultation of the European Data Protection Supervisor
[Section 4 … Security of personal data]
Article 73 … Security of processing of operational personal data
Article 74 … Notification of a personal data breach to the European Data Protection Supervisor
Article 75 … Communication of a personal data breach to the data subject
[Section 5 … Data Protection Officer]
Article 77 … Designation of the Data Protection Officer
Article 78 … Position of the Data Protection Officer
Article 79 … Tasks of the data protection officer
[Section 6 … Transfers of personal data to third countries or international organisations]
Article 80 … General principles for transfers of operational personal data
Article 81 … Transfers on the basis of an adequacy decision
Article 82 … Transfers subject to appropriate safeguards
Article 83 … Derogations for specific situations
Article 84 … Transfers of operational personal data to recipients established in third countries
[Section 7 … Tasks of the European Data Protection Supervisor]
Article 85 … Supervision by the European Data Protection Supervisor
Article 86 … Professional secrecy of the European Data Protection Supervisor
Article 88 … Right to lodge a compliant with the European Data Protection Supervisor
Article 89 … Right to judicial review against the European Data Protection Supervisor
Chapter IX … Financial and staff provisions
Section 1 … Financial provisions
Article 92 … Establishment of the budget
Article 93 … Implementation of the budget
Article 94 … Presentation of accounts and discharge
Section 2 … Staff provisions
Article 96 … General provisions
Article 97 … Temporary agents and contract agents
Article 98 … Seconded experts and other staff
Chapter X … Provisions on the relations of the EPPO with its partners
Article 99 … Common provisions
Article 100 … Relations with Eurojust
Article 101 … Relations with OLAF
Article 102 … Relations with Europol
Article 103 … Relations with other institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the Union
Article 104 … Relations with third countries and international organisations
Chapter XI … General provisions
Article 106 … Legal status and operating conditions
Article 107 … Language arrangements
Article 108 … Confidentiality and professional secrecy
Article 110 … OLAF and the Court of Auditors
Article 111 … Rules on protection of sensitive non-classified and classified information
Article 112 … Administrative inquiries
Article 113 … General regime of liability
Article 114 … Implementing rules and programme documents
Article 115 … Exercise of delegation
Article 116 … Urgency procedure