III. Sütuna İlişkin İlk Ön Karar Davası - Gözütok ve Brügge Kararına İlişkin Bir Değerlendirme

Article 54 of the Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement constitutes an example of transnational application of the ne bis in idem principle which means that no one should face more than one prosecution for the same offence or that no one should be punished twice for the same offence. ECJ had the opportunity to clarify the scope of application of this article in Gozutok and Brugge case. In this case, the Court has stated that purely procedural matters should not become an obstacle for the implementation of the area of freedom, security and justice. In other words, the result of the procedure, the sanctioning character of the conditions that need to be met in order for the decision to discontinue the criminal proceedings to be made becomes important rather than the form. In the light of the fact that the Court has made use of the principles it previously relied on in its case law concerning the single market, it will be emphasized in this study that the Court is ready to take on a transformative role in relation to matters of third pillar. However this is not to deny that this process is hard to realize since it involves achieving the right balance among fundamental rights of the individual, the requirements of the area of freedom, security and justice and the explicit intentions of the EU Member States.