Solutions to the accumulation of different penal responsibilities for the same act and their assessment from the perspective of the ne bis in idem principle

What is it about?

The article is aimed at answering the question: How are main requirements of the right to a court ensured with respect to administrative liability of a penal character? The authors concentrated in the cases regarding the protection of financial markets and competition, because they usually considered to be of penal character. Three jurisdictions were selected: German, French and English.

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Why is it important?

Our findings show that differences between the German, French, and English legal regimes resulting from them belonging to either the common law or continental law system are not of fundamental importance in the matter of the right to a court in the aforementioned cases. Despite the different solutions adopted in each of the analysed countries in each of them the requirements resulting from the dominant jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights have been maintained. One of many differences between the legal solutions adopted in these analysed countries concerns the implementation of certain requirements of the right to a court already at the stage of proceedings before the administrative authorities. A significant finding was a visible trend toward paying more attention to the proceedings before administrative authorities deciding on administrative-criminal liability. It constitutes an expression of the need to depart from the purely inquisitorial model of the administrative proceedings in those cases.