Order — ECLI:EU:C:2015:634
Date: 2015-09-25
Language of the case: Dutch
Court formation: Fourth Chamber
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in criminal matters;Police cooperation;Area of freedom, security and justice
Procedure: Preliminary reference - urgent procedure
Origin: Netherlands

Summary — Order of the Court (Fourth Chamber), 25 September 2015 Judicial cooperation in criminal matters — Framework Decision on the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between Member States — Conditions of execution — National legislation making the execution of a European arrest warrant subject to, in addition to double criminality, the condition that the criminal act is punishable by a custodial sentence or a detention order for a maximum period of at least 12 months under the law of the executing Member State — Not permissible (Council Framework Decision 2002/584, as amended by Framework Decision 2009/299, Arts 2(4) and 4.1) Articles 2(4) and 4.1 of 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 precluding a situation in which surrender pursuant to a European arrest warrant is subject, in the executing Member State, not only to the condition that the act for which the arrest warrant was issued constitutes an offence under the law of that Member State, but also to the condition that it is, under that same law, punishable by a custodial sentence of a maximum of at least twelve months. As is clear from the first two paragraphs of Article 2, that Framework Decision focuses, with regard to offences in respect of which a European arrest warrant may be issued, on the level of punishment applicable in the issuing Member State. The reason for this is that criminal prosecutions or the execution of a custodial sentence or detention order for which such a warrant is issued are conducted in accordance with the rules of that Member State. In contrast to the extradition regime which it removed and replaced by a system of surrender between judicial authorities, Framework Decision 2002/584 no longer takes account of the levels of punishments applicable in the executing Member States. This corresponds to the primary objective of the Framework Decision, referred to in recital 5 in its preamble, of ensuring free movement of judicial decisions in criminal matters, within an area of freedom, security and justice. (see paras 27, 29-31, operative part)