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EU: EUROPEAN ARREST WARRANT: Warning over ECJ opinions that propose prioritising "mutual recognition" over human rights
14 March 2016
Fair Trials joins with criminal justice experts on European Arrest Warrant (Fair Trials, link):
"Experts in criminal justice from across the European Union have united in expressing their concerns regarding the protection of human rights in the fast-track extradition system; the European Arrest Warrant, as well as the poor and inhumane prison conditions in EU member states.
...if the court were to follow the opinion it would mean the human rights-based grounds for refusing European Arrest Warrants applied in national implementing laws, are incompatible with the EAW Framework Decision."
The letter:
AG Bot's Opinion in Aranyosi and Caldararu - a Threat to Justice in Europe (pdf):
"We believe that the Opinion of AG Bot should prompt a fundamental review of the Commission's approach. In outline, his conclusion is that "Article 1(3) ... must be interpreted in a way that it does not create a ground for non-execution of an Arrest Warrant ... on the basis of a risk of a violation in the requesting state of the human rights of the requested person". We recognise, of course, that this is not a legally-binding decision and that the Court will ultimately issue an opinion. However, we are writing now given the grave importance of the Court's ultimate response to the questions referred to it and the Advocate General's unexpected and deeply troubling advice to the Court.
The implications of this approach - according the principle of mutual recognition a higher legal status than protection for fundamental human rights - cannot be under-stated. If adopted by the Court, it would place the EU legal order out of line with overwhelming global consensus that there is an absolute and non-derogable right for a person not to be extradited to countries in which there is a real risk that they would be subject to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment. Despite AG Bat's arguments, international human rights standards allow for no " balancing" of this right against the interests of law-enforcement or judicial efficiency."
The opinions of Advocate-General Bot in the two cases in question are available on the CJEU website in various languages including French, German and Spanish. They are currently unavailable in English. See:
Aranyosi and
Caldararu (links).