Non bis in idem principas Europos Sąjungos baudžiamojoje teisėje ; The non bis in idem Principle in the European Union Criminal Law
Concerning the most complicated element of the non bis in idem, i.e. the notion of the "same acts", the Court had adopted the broad factual approach. The relevant criterion for the purposes of the application of the principle is the identity of the material acts understood as the existence of a set of facts which are inextricably linked together, irrespective of the legal classification or the legal interest protected. However, the definitive assessment in this regard is a matter for the competent national courts which must determine whether the material acts constitute a set of facts which are inextricably linked together in time, in space and by their subject-matter. The variety of the situations where this criterion was applied by the Court is analysed in the second part of the article. The authors make an attempt to distinguish the specific features of the "same acts" in the context of the trans-European non bis in idem principle in comparison with the purely national context and identify the eventual impact of the application of the transnational non bis in idem rule to the qualification of the offences.