This Article corresponds to a general principle of law which is included in all European constitutions and has also been recognised by the Court of Justice as a basic principle of Community law (judgment of 13 November 1984, Case 283/83 Racke [1984] ECR 3791, judgment of 17 April 1997, Case 15/95 EARL [1997] ECR I?1961, and judgment of 13 April 2000, Case 292/97 Karlsson [2000] ECR 2737).
Ta člen ustreza splošnemu pravnemu načelu, ki je vključen v vse evropske ustave in ga je tudi Sodišče priznalo kot osnovno načelo prava Skupnosti (sodba z dne 13. novembra 1984, zadeva 283/83 Racke, [1984] PSES 3791, sodba z dne 17. aprila 1997, zadeva 15/95 EARL, [1997] PSES I- metricconverterProductID1961 in1961 in sodba z dne 13. aprila 2000, zadeva 292/97 Karlsson, [2000] PSES 2737).