An EU court has clarified the conditions under which a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) issued by the UK can be executed in the EU.

The judgment by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) was a response to a question referred to it by Ireland’s Supreme Court.

The case arose after a district judge of the Magistrates’ Courts of Northern Ireland issued four arrest warrants against a person suspected of having committed terrorist offences.

Change in rules

In his appeal to the Supreme Court, the interested party claimed that his surrender would be incompatible with the principle that offences and penalties must be defined by law, because of an unfavourable change to Britain’s rules on release on licence that came after the suspected commission of the offences in question.

The Supreme Court rejected an argument that his surrender risked a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

It asked the CJEU, however, whether it could draw the same conclusion in respect of the principle that offences and penalties must be defined by law, enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

Independent examination

In its judgment, the CJEU stated that a member state’s judicial authority had to carry out an independent examination of that risk in the light of the charter, even if the risk of a violation of the ECHR had already been ruled out.

The court added that an EU court should refuse to execute the arrest warrant only if, after requesting additional information and guarantees from the issuing judicial authority, it had “objective, reliable, specific, and properly updated information” that established that there was a real risk that a heavier penalty would be imposed than the one initially provided for on the day on which the offence was committed.

Since Britain withdrew from the EU, the execution of EAWs has been governed by the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA).

The CJEU stated that EU courts, when deciding on such applications under the TCA, were required to ensure respect for the fundamental rights recognised by the charter.