Judgment_paragraph 92 · Amador Rodriguez Prieto v European Commission (T-61/18)

92That principle — which is one of the fundamental rights (judgments of 8 July 1999, Montecatini v Commission, C‑235/92 P, EU:C:1999:362, paragraph 175, and of 4 October 2006, Tillack v Commission, T‑193/04, EU:T:2006:292, paragraph 121) that are themselves, according to the case-law, general principles of EU law (judgment of 27 September 2006, Dresdner Bank and Others v Commission, T‑44/02 OP, T‑54/05 OP, T‑56/02 OP, T‑60/02 OP and T‑61/02 OP, EU:T:2006:271, paragraph 61) — is applicable to administrative proceedings having regard to the nature of the infringements in question and the nature and degree of severity of the ensuing penalties (see, in competition matters, judgments of 8 July 2004, JFE Engineering v Commission, T‑67/00, T‑68/00, T‑71/00 and T‑78/00, EU:T:2004:221, paragraph 178; of 27 September 2006, Dresdner Bank and Others v Commission, T‑44/02 OP, T‑54/05 OP, T‑56/02 OP, T‑60/02 OP and T‑61/02 OP, EU:T:2006:271, paragraph 61; and of 5 October 2011, Romana Tabacchi v Commission, T‑11/06, EU:T:2011:560, paragraph 129). It follows that the right to the presumption of innocence applies, even in the absence of a criminal prosecution, to an official accused of a breach of obligations under the Staff Regulations which is sufficiently serious to warrant an investigation by OLAF, in the light of which the administration may adopt any measure it deems necessary, however severe (judgments of 28 March 2012, BD v Commission, F‑36/11, EU:F:2012:49, paragraph 51 and of 29 April 2015, CJ v ECDC, F‑159/12 and F‑161/12, EU:F:2015:38, paragraph 154).