Decision on surrender with consent
If the requested person consents to surrender to the issuing State, the investigating judge or the pre-trial panel of the competent court shall, without delay and no later than three days after the consent, render a decision granting surrender, unless there are grounds for the non-execution of the European arrest warrant;
The decision shall be served to the requested person, his or her defence counsel and the State Attorney who may appeal within three days. An appeal against the decision of the investigating judge shall be decided by the pre-trial panel within three days. An appeal against the decision of the pre-trial panel shall be decided by the panel of a higher court within three days.
Decision on surrender without consent
If the requested person does not consent to surrender, the court shall question him or her about the reasons for opposing the surrender. The competent State Attorney may be present, while the requested person's defence counsel must be present at the questioning.
The court may request additional information or documents from the issuing authority and set an appropriate time limit of no more than seven working days to provide them.
The court may, if necessary, conduct evidentiary actions in accordance with the relevant provisions of domestic law on criminal proceedings in order to determine whether all the preconditions for surrender are met.
After this, the pre-trial panel of the competent court shall render a decision granting or refusing surrender of the requested person.
The decision shall be served to the requested person, his or her defence counsel and the State Attorney who can appeal within three days. The appeal shall be decided by the pre-trial panel of a higher court within three days.
A decision refusing surrender shall contain a statement of reasons, and the issuing authority and the national S.I.Re.N.E. office shall be notified thereof without delay.
Time limits for issuing the decision to surrender the requested person
The procedure for the surrender of a requested person shall be a matter of urgency.
If the requested person has not consented to surrender, the decision on his or her surrender shall be rendered within sixty days after the arrest or the first interrogation.
If a decision on surrender cannot be rendered within the time limits, the court shall notify thereof the authority that issued the warrant, giving the reasons for the delay. In such a case, the time limit for rendering a decision on the surrender of the requested person shall be extended by a further thirty days.
If, due to exceptional circumstances, a decision on surrender cannot be rendered within the time limit, the court shall notify Eurojust thereof, giving the reasons for the delay.
If a Member State repeatedly fails to observe the time limits for the execution of European arrest warrants issued by domestic competent authorities, the ministry competent for justice affairs shall notify the Council of the European Union thereof.
Grounds for refusing to execute a European arrest warrant
For offences other than catalogue offences, the competent court shall execute a European arrest warrant issued for an act punishable by the law of the issuing Member State by a custodial sentence for a maximum period of at least one year or, where the final judgment has been passed, imposing a custodial sentence or measure involving deprivation of liberty for a period of at least four months, subject to the condition that the act concerned contains the essential elements of a criminal offence under the domestic law, regardless of its statutory description and legal classification indicated in the received warrant.
The court shall refuse to execute a European arrest warrant in the following cases:
1. if the European arrest warrant has been issued for an offence covered by amnesty in the Republic of Croatia, and a domestic court has jurisdiction under the law;
2. if the court is informed that the requested person has already been sentenced by a final judgment in a Member State in respect of the same offence, provided that the sentence has been served or is currently being served or it may no longer be executed under the law of the sentencing Member State;
3. if the requested person had not reached the age of 14 at the time the offence was committed;
4. if the offence to which the European arrest warrant relates does not constitute a criminal offence under the domestic law. In relation to fiscal offences, the execution of a European arrest warrant shall not be refused solely on the ground that the domestic law does not impose the same kind of tax or duty or does not contain the same provisions as regards taxes, duties, customs or exchange regulations as the law of the issuing State;
5. if the person who is the subject of the European arrest warrant is being prosecuted in the Republic of Croatia for the same offence for which the warrant has been issued, unless the State Attorney and the competent authority of the issuing State have agreed that criminal proceedings shall be conducted by a judicial authority of the issuing State;
6. if the domestic judicial authority has decided not to prosecute for the offence for which the European arrest warrant has been issued because the suspect has fulfilled the obligations imposed on him or her as a condition to cease prosecution;
7. if the criminal prosecution or the execution of the criminal sanction is statute-barred according to domestic law, providing that Croatian authorities have jurisdiction under the domestic law;
8. if the court is informed that the requested person has been sentenced by a final judgment in a third State in respect of the same offence, provided that the sentence has been served or is currently being served or it may no longer be executed under the law of the sentencing State.
Grounds for optional non-execution of the European arrest warrant
The court may, guided by the principles of efficient cooperation, expediency and right to a fair trial, refuse to execute the European arrest warrant:
1. if the domestic judicial authority has decided either not to prosecute for the offence for which the European arrest warrant was issued or the proceedings have been suspended, or if a final judgment has been passed upon the requested person in a Member State in respect of the same offence;
2. if the European arrest warrant relates to offences which:
a) have been committed in whole or in part in the territory of the Republic of Croatia;
b) have been committed outside the territory of the issuing State and the domestic law does not allow prosecution for the same offence when committed outside the territory of the Republic of Croatia.
The court may refuse to execute the European arrest warrant issued for the purposes of executing a custodial sentence or measure involving deprivation of liberty imposed by a judgment rendered in absentia, unless it is clear from the information given on the form, in accordance with the law of the issuing State:
1. the requested person was, in due time and in person, summoned for the hearing and thereby informed of the time and place of the hearing which resulted in the judgment being rendered in absentia or that he or she received official information of the time and place of the hearing in such a manner that it was unequivocally established that he or she was aware of the scheduled hearing, and was warned about the possibility of a judgment being rendered in absentia if he or she does not appear for the hearing;
2. the requested person was represented at the hearing by a defence counsel authorised by him or her or appointed ex officio by the court;
3. the requested person, after being personally served with the judgment rendered in absentia and being instructed about his or her right to a retrial, or an appeal, in which he or she would be entitled to participate and in which the facts would be reassessed and new evidence presented, and which might lead to the original judgment being varied, has expressly stated that he or she does not contest the judgment rendered in absentia, or did not request a retrial or submit an appeal within the stipulated time limit;
4. the requested person was not personally served with the judgment rendered in absentia, but will be personally served with it without delay after surrendering to the authorities of the issuing State, and informed that he or she has the right to file a request for a retrial or lodge an appeal within the legally stipulated time limit.