Order of the Court (Ninth Chamber) of 9 January 2024.#Criminal proceedings against C.A.A. and C.V.#Reference for a preliminary ruling – Article 99 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice – Acte éclairé – Decision 2006/928/EC – Mechanism for cooperation and verification of progress in Romania to address specific benchmarks in the areas of judicial reform and the fight against corruption – Legal nature and effects – Binding on Romania – Direct effect of the benchmarks – Obligation to combat corruption in general and high-level corruption in particular – Obligation to provide for dissuasive and effective criminal penalties – Limitation period for criminal liability – Decision of a constitutional court which has declared invalid a provision of national legislation governing the grounds for interrupting that period – Systemic risk of impunity – Principle that offences and penalties must be defined by law – Requirements of foreseeability and precision of criminal law – Principle of the retroactive application of the more lenient criminal law (lex mitior) – Principle of legal certainty – National standard of protection of fundamental rights – Obligation of the courts of a Member State to disapply decisions of the constitutional court and/or the supreme court of that Member State in the event that they are incompatible with EU law.#Case C-131/23.