Member states must hand over anybody who is the subject of a European arrest warrant to the United Kingdom as long as the country as a member of the European Union, the Court of Justice of the EU ruled in a judgment returned on Wednesday 19 September (case C-327/18 PPU).
In January and May 2016, the UK issued European arrest warrants against RO, a suspected murderer and rapist. When RO was arrested in Ireland, he refused to be handed over to the British authorities, notably for reasons related to the scheduled withdrawal of the UK from the EU on 29 March 2019.
Having had the matter referred to it by the Irish High Court, the Court has followed the conclusions of the Advocate General and found against RO (see EUROPE 12077). It reiterates that under the framework decision (2002/584/JHA), the execution of European arrest warrants is the rule and non-execution an exception that must be interpreted strictly. It therefore finds that the UK's notification - on 29 March 2017 - of its intention to leave the EU is not an exceptional circumstance justifying the non-execution of the warrant.
However, the European Court considers that it is the responsibility of the judicial authority of execution to examine whether there are serious and proven grounds to believe that once Brexit takes effect, any person who is the subject of the European arrest warrant risks being deprived of his or her fundamental rights and the rights derived from the framework decision.
With regard to this, the Court notes that the UK's continued participation in the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms is not related to whether it is a member of the EU and that London will remain a party to the European extradition convention of 1957.
It is therefore reasonable, in the view of the Court, to assume that the UK will continue to apply the rights of the framework decision on the European arrest warrant from April 2019 onwards. However, in the event of tangible indications demonstrating the reverse, a judicial authority of execution of a warrant may refuse to hand over a person who is the subject of an arrest warrant. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)