El Tribunal de Justicia anula la suspensión temporal del Gobernador del Banco de Letonia por supuesta corrupción tras proteger la ‘independencia' de los miembros del Consejo de Gobierno del SEBC (TJUE, Rimšēvičs y BCE c. Letonia, C-202/18 y C-238/18, 26 de febrero de 2019)

While admitting that the Governor of a National Central Bank is entitled to an action for annulment of national laws affecting the exercise of his duties as a European official, the Court of Justice proceeds to a substantive review of national temporary measures adopted in criminal proceedings for bribery. Such scrutiny carries a negative evaluation of domestic law as regards both the independence of the organ entitled to adopt such measures and the rules governing criminal proceedings. The interpretative tools the Court shaped throughout the integration process add to the direct effect of the judiciary independence principle as declared in Juizes Portugueses and support the ‘occult expansion’ of Union law inaugurated by the case-law on the Memoranda of Understanding. In this line, a de facto immunity attaches to the holders of posts that are teleologically related to the objectives of the Union; yet, the evaluation of this teleological perspective rests entirely in the hands of the Luxembourg Court.