During the two Plenary Meetings of 2017 that took place under the Maltese and Estonian Presidencies, practitioners from the European Union (EU) and third countries discussed the consequences of the recent case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on the EAW and its interpretation.
48th Plenary Meeting of EJN – Malta, June 2017
The 48th Plenary Meeting of the European Judicial Network (EJN) that took place in Valletta, Malta, in June 2017, debated the practical aspects regarding the relation between extradition and the EAW surrender procedures. The discussion came as a result of the judgement issued by the CJEU in Case C-182/15 Petruhhin.
Several important points were discussed in regards to the Petruhhin judgement during the Plenary Meeting, such as the EAW priority, scope of application of the judgement, obligation to inform the MS of nationality, as well as the extent and the recipient of the information provided to the MS of nationality, time limits, confidentiality, and the role of the EJN in the process.
49th Plenary Meeting of EJN – Estonia, November 2017
The EAW case-law was also a topic of discussion during the 49th Plenary Meeting of the EJN taking place in Tallinn, Estonia, in November 2017, where the participants had two workshops covering this topic.
The first workshop dealt with the EAW and the detention conditions as a consequence of the CJEU decision in cases C-404/15 Pál Aranyosi and C-659/15 PPU Robert Căldăraru. The CJEU concluded that in case of a real risk of inhuman or degrading treatment due to the detention conditions of a person in the MS where the EAW was issued, the EAW must be deferred or eventually be brought to an end. Therefore the main points of discussion were focused on the consequences for the EAW procedure, the alternatives to the execution of the EAW, and the role of the EJN and Eurojust in the facilitation of the exchange of information.
The second workshop that discussed the EAW concentrated on the CJEU’s decision in Case C-640/15 Vilkas. The case deals with the interpretation of Articles 15(1) and 23 of the EAW Framework Decision, with the CJEU having concluded that, given a force majeure event, there is a need for a third surrender date, where the first two surrender attempts have failed on account of the resistance put up by the requested person. The main discussion was centred on the surrender of person procedures, postponement of the surrender due to force majeure events, best practices, and the role of the EJN Contact points and the EJN website.
For further information please see the General Secretariat of the Council document on the Extracts from the Conclusions of the Plenary Meetings of the EJN concerning case-law on the EAW