On 16 November 2021, the CJEU, delivered judgment on case C-479/21 Governor of Cloverhill Prison and Others, concluding that the provisions in the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement concerning the European arrest warrant/surrender regime with respect to the UK and the provision in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and the UK concerning the new surrender mechanism are binding on Ireland.
The decision of the Court was in the framework of preliminary ruling procedure where the Supreme Court of Ireland referred 2 questions on whether the EAW/surrender regime was binding on Ireland. In particular, the Irish court raised a question on the appropriateness of the legal basis (Art. 50(2) TEU and Art. 217 TFEU) of the Withdrawal Agreement and the need to include also a substantive AFSJ legal basis, which would then trigger the applicability of the Irish opt-out from AFSJ instruments. The Court concluded that the Withdrawal agreement is of broad nature, aiming to determine the relationship between EU and the UK and as such there was no need to add a particular legal basis related to AFSJ.
See the full judgment.