An answer for Andrew’s question on the European Arrest Warrant
Posted on 06. Oct, 2009 by Martin Wingfield in Parliamentary Questions
Andrew Brons has received an answer to his written question on the European Arrest Warrant.
Last month he asked the European Parliament:
i) “Will it be possible for a person to be extradited from a country for an act that is not an offence in that country to a second country in which the act is an offence?
ii) “How much discretion will courts have in deciding whether or not a person can be extradited?
The answer was given this morning by Jacques Barrot, a Vice-President of the European Commission who is responsible for justice, freedom and security.
He said:
“A European arrest warrant may be issued for acts punishable by the law of the issuing state by a custodial sentence or a detention order for a maximum period of at least twelve months or, where a sentence has been passed or a detention order has been made, for sentences of at least four months.
“According to Article 2 of the Council Framework Decision of 13 June 2002 on the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between Member States, no dual criminality check will take place for a list of 32 categories of offences if they are punishable in the state in which the European arrest warrant was issued by a custodial sentence or a detention order for a maximum period of at least three years.
“For other offences, not covered by the list of 32 categories, surrender may be subject to the condition that the acts for which the European arrest warrant has been issued also constitute an offence under the law of the state that has been asked to execute that warrant.
“Member States have implemented the Framework Decision in their national legal order. Thus, it depends on the provisions in the national legislation as regards the second category of offences whether the aforementioned condition applies.
“In answer to the second question, the Framework Decision defines three mandatory (Article 3) and seven optional (Article 4) grounds for refusal. Furthermore, a possibility to ask for guarantees from the issuing state is provided in Article 5 of the Framework Decision.”
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