Åklagaren v H Åkerberg Fransson

In the Swedish case of Åklagaren v H Åkerberg Fransson (CJEU Case C-617/10) an employer (F) was ordered to pay penalties and surcharges for submitting incorrect VAT returns. Subsequently the Swedish Public Prosecutor’s Office began criminal proceedings against him charging him with providing false information. He defended the proceedings contending that he was being charged twice with the same offence and that this was a breach of art 50 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The case was referred to the CJEU which rejected this contention holding that ‘the ne bis in idem principle laid down in art 50 does not preclude a Member State from imposing successively for the same acts of non compliance with declaration obligations in the field of value added tax a tax penalty and a criminal penalty in so far as the...