Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 8 December 2022.#Criminal proceedings against HYA and Others.#Request for a preliminary ruling from the Spetsializiran nakazatelen sad.#Reference for a preliminary ruling – Judicial cooperation in criminal matters – Directive (EU) 2016/343 – Strengthening of certain aspects of the presumption of innocence and of the right to be present at the trial in criminal proceedings – Article 8(1) – Right of an accused person to be present at the trial – Second paragraph of Article 47 and Article 48(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union – Right to a fair trial and rights of the defence – Examination of witnesses for the prosecution in the absence of the accused person and his or her lawyer at the pre-trial stage of the criminal proceedings – Impossibility of examining witnesses for the prosecution during the judicial stage of those proceedings – National legislation allowing a criminal court to base its decision on the prior testimony of those witnesses.#Case C-348/21.