Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2012:648
Date: 2012-10-18
Language of the case: Romanian
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in criminal matters;Area of freedom, security and justice
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Romania

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber), 29 January 2013 1. Questions referred for a preliminary ruling — Jurisdiction of the Court — Limits — General or hypothetical questions — Question of an abstract and purely hypothetical nature having regard to the subject-matter of the main proceedings — Inadmissibility (Art. 267 TFEU) 2. Judicial cooperation in criminal matters — Framework Decision on the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between Member States — Warrant issued for the purposes of prosecution — Execution by Member States — Obligation to execute the warrant despite the requested person not being heard prior to the arrest warrant being issued (Council Framework Decision 2002/584, as amended by Framework Decision 2009/299) 1. See the text of the decision. (see para. 24) 2. Framework Decision 2002/584 on the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between Member States, as amended by Framework Decision 2009/299, must be interpreted as meaning that the executing judicial authorities cannot refuse to execute a European arrest warrant on the ground that the requested person was not heard in the issuing Member State before that arrest warrant was issued. The fact that the European arrest warrant has been issued for the purposes of conducting a criminal prosecution, without the requested person having been heard by the issuing judicial authorities, does not feature among the grounds for non-execution of such a warrant as provided for by the provisions of Framework Decision 2002/584. Furthermore, the observance of Articles 47 and 48 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union does not require that a judicial authority of a Member State should be able to refuse to execute a European arrest warrant issued for the purposes of conducting a criminal prosecution on that ground. First, an obligation for the issuing judicial authorities to hear the requested person before such a European arrest warrant is issued would inevitably lead to the failure of the very system of surrender provided for by Framework Decision 2002/584 and, consequently, prevent the achievement of the area of freedom, security and justice, in so far as such an arrest warrant must have a certain element of surprise, in particular in order to stop the person concerned from taking flight. Secondly, the European legislature, in Articles 8, 13 to 15 and 19 of Framework Decision 2002/584, has ensured that the right to be heard will be observed in the executing Member State in such a way as not to compromise the effectiveness of the European arrest warrant system. None of those provisions lays down an obligation on the issuing judicial authorities to hear the requested person before a European arrest warrant is issued for the purposes of conducting a criminal prosecution. (see paras 38-41, 43, operative part)