The French, Swedish and Belgian public prosecutors’ offices meet the requirements for issuing a European arrest warrant, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in urgent judgments delivered on Thursday 12 December.
Several national courts are uncertain as to whether the public prosecutor’s offices in France (Cases C-566/19 and C626/19), Sweden (Case C-625/19) and Belgium (Case C-627/19) could be regarded as an ‘issuing judicial authority’ within the meaning of the Framework Decision (2002/584) on the European arrest warrant (see EUROPE 12377/21).
In the first three cases, warrants were issued for the purposes of conducting criminal prosecutions against three individuals, and in the fourth case, in order to enforce a term of imprisonment, imposed by a final judgment.
According to the Court, French judges have the power to assess independently the need for a European arrest warrant, in particular in relation to the executive branch, and they exercise this power objectively by taking into account all prosecution and defence elements. This independence is not reduced by the fact that the Minister of Justice can issue general instructions on criminal policy to them, the EU judge believes.
Secondly, the Court clarifies the requirement that the decision to issue a European arrest warrant must be subject, in the issuing country, to judicial review in accordance with the requirements of effective judicial protection when taken by an authority which participates in the administration of justice without being a court.
First, the judge points out that the existence of such a judicial remedy is not a condition for the authority to be qualified as an issuing judicial authority.
Secondly, it is up to the Member States to put in place procedural rules to ensure the required level of judicial protection. And the introduction of a separate right of appeal against the decision to issue an arrest warrant is one possibility. Thus, the Court considers that the requirements for effective judicial protection are met when the conditions for issuing an arrest warrant (issued by an authority other than a court for the purpose of criminal proceedings) are subject to judicial review in the issuing country.
According to the Court, the French and Swedish systems meet these requirements.
Where an arrest warrant has been issued for the purpose of enforcing a prison sentence, the Court considers that the requirements arising from effective judicial protection also do not imply that a separate appeal against the decision is provided for.
The Belgian system, which does not provide for such a remedy, therefore also meets the requirements, the judge considered.
See the judgment in Cases C-566/19 and C-626/19 (in French): http://bit.ly/36rzWnX
See the judgment in Case C-625/19 (in French): http://bit.ly/2YF2w2w
See the judgment in Case C-627/19 (in French): http://bit.ly/2RL3ngY (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)