It is not possible for a member state to refuse implementation of a European arrest warrant when this refusal leads to the impunity of the person being pursued, explained the European Court of Justice in the ruling made on Thursday 29 June (C-579/15).
In 2007, Mr Poplawski from Poland was sentenced to a one year suspended prison sentence by a Polish court, which launched the European arrest warrant against the defendant in 2013 when he was residing in the Netherlands. The Dutch authorities refused to implement this mandate whilst declaring that they were prepared to carry out the sentence on their own territory.
Dutch law stipulates that the sentence can only be implemented if the country that has issued the European arrest warrant has made the request for it. Polish legislation opposes such a request insofar as the person pursued is a Polish national, which is indeed the case in this example.
Approached by the Dutch courts, the European Court of Justice confirmed the conclusions of advocate general Yves Bot delivered last February (see EUROPE 11726). According to the Court, any refusal to implement a European arrest warrant presupposes a genuine commitment from the member state concerned, in this case the Netherlands, to carry out the sentence depriving the liberty of the person pursued. It transpires that such a refusal must be preceded by the verification by the legal authority, of the possibility of genuinely carrying out the sentence in compliance with domestic law. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)