AX v Statul Român ‑ Ministerul Finanţelor Publice*

On 23 September 2020, AG Bobek delivered his opinion in case C‑397/19, which concludes as follows:

"the second paragraph of Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the second subparagraph of Article 19(1) TEU neither preclude national provisions on State liability for judicial error such as Article 96(3) of Legea nr. 303/2004 privind statutul judecătorilor și procurorilor (Law No 303/2004 on the rules governing the status of judges and prosecutors), nor the existence of the possibility for the State subsequently to initiate a recovery action for civil liability against the judge concerned in cases of bad faith or gross negligence on the part of that judge, provided that those procedures offer sufficient guarantees to ensure that members of the judiciary are not subjected to direct or indirect pressure liable to affect their decisions. It is for the national court to assess, in the light of all the relevant factors before it, whether those conditions are satisfied by Article 96 of Law No 303/2004, by other pertinent national rules, and in the application practice."