Judgment_paragraph 37 · SF v MV and Others (C-20/23)

37As noted in paragraph 34 of the present judgment, it is apparent from that directive that the justification to be provided by a Member State in support of an exclusion such as that at issue in the main proceedings must be apparent either from the proceedings leading to it, or from national law. Thus, as regards the first situation, where, under national law, the preparatory work, preambles and explanatory memoranda for legislative or regulatory acts form an integral part of those acts or are relevant for the purposes of interpreting them and contain a justification for the exclusion of a specific category of debt from the discharge of debts, it must be held that that justification complies with the requirements of Article 23(4) of that directive (see, to that effect, judgment of 11 April 2024, Agencia Estatal de la Administración Tributaria (Exclusion of claims governed by public law from discharge of debt), C‑687/22, EU:C:2024:287, paragraph 54). In addition, as regards the second situation, that justification may also be found in provisions of national law other than the provision containing that exclusion, such as a national constitutional, legislative or regulatory provision.