The authorities of a European Union Member State may not extradite a third-country national to another third country where that national has been convicted by final judgment in another Member State for the same acts as those referred to in the extradition request and has already served the sentence imposed, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) ruled in a judgment delivered on Friday 28 October (case C-435/22 PPU).
The Munich Higher Regional Court asks the CJEU about an extradition request made by the United States to Germany concerning a Serbian national accused of committing bank fraud as part of a criminal association in the period 2008-2013. However, the person concerned has already been convicted in Slovenia for similar offences committed up to 2010 and served the full sentence there.
According to the Court, the prohibition of double jeopardy (the ‘ne bis in idem’ principle), enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and in the convention implementing the Schengen Agreement, precludes the extradition sought by the US authorities. Both texts apply to third-country nationals, regardless of whether or not they are legally resident in the EU.
The fact that the extradition request is based on a bilateral extradition treaty limiting the scope of the ne bis in idem principle to judgments handed down in the requested Member State does not change this result, the Court added. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)