The CJEU was asked to interpret Article 18(1) TFEU, Article 21(1) TFEU and Article 19 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (Charter).
As regards Article 18(1) TFEU and Article 21(1) TFEU, the CJEU was asked to clarify whether in the event of extradition of a citizen of another EU Member State to a non- Member State, the citizen of that EU Member State should enjoy the same level of protection as a national of the requested Member State.
The CJEU ruled that a Member State is not required to grant every Union citizen who has moved within its territory the same protection against extradition as that granted to its own nationals. However, before extraditing the citizen, the Member State concerned must give priority to the exchange of information with the Member State of which that citizen is a national (Member State of origin). The Member State concerned must also allow that Member State of origin to request the citizen’s surrender for the purposes of prosecution provided that the latter Member State has jurisdiction to prosecute that person for offences committed outside its national territory.
As regards Article 19 of the Charter, the CJEU was asked to clarify inter alia whether a Member State that decides to extradite a citizen of the EU to a third State is required to verify that the extradition will not prejudice the rights provided for in Article 19 of the Charter.
The CJEU gives an affirmative reply to this question and makes several references to its Aranyosi and Căldăraru judgment. The CJEU holds that if the competent authority of the requested Member State is in possession of evidence of a real risk of inhuman or degrading treatment of individuals in the requesting third State and it is called upon to decide on the extradition of a person to that State, it is bound to assess the existence of that risk . For the purpose of this assessment, the competent authority of the requested Member State must rely on information that is objective, reliable, specific and properly updated.
The judgment is available on the CJEU’s website in Bulgarian, Spanish, Czech, Danish, German, Estonian, Greek, English, French, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Maltese, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Finish, and Swedish languages.
You may find useful to read the opinion of the Advocate general, delivered on 10 May 2016.
The press release issued by the CJEU may be also consulted here.