Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2017:636
Date: 2017-09-06
Language of the case: Dutch
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in criminal matters;Police cooperation;Area of freedom, security and justice
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Belgium

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber), 23 January 2018 1. Judicial cooperation in criminal matters — Framework Decision on the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between Member States –Grounds for mandatory non-execution of the European arrest warrant — Minors — Scope — Persons who have not reached the age required, under the law of the executing Member State, to be regarded as criminally responsible for the acts on which the warrant is based. (Council Framework Decision 2002/584, as amended by Framework Decision 2009/299, Art. 3(3)) 2. Judicial cooperation in criminal matters — Framework Decision on the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between Member States – Grounds for mandatory non-execution of the European arrest warrant — Minors — Applicability of additional conditions laid down by the law of the executing Member State in order specifically to prosecute or convict a minor — Not applicable (Council Framework Decision 2002/584, as amended by Framework Decision 2009/299, Art. 3(3)) 1. Article 3(3) of Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA of 13 June 2002 on the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between Member States, as amended by Council Framework Decision 2009/299/JHA of 26 February 2009, is to be interpreted as meaning that the judicial authority of the executing Member State must refuse to surrender only those minors who are the subject of a European arrest warrant and who, under the law of the executing Member State, have not yet reached the age at which they are regarded as criminally responsible for the acts on which the warrant issued against them is based. It should be noted in that regard that Article 3(3) of Framework Decision 2002/584 requires the executing judicial authority to refuse to execute a European arrest warrant if the person who is the subject of the warrant may not, owing to his age, be held ‘criminally responsible for the acts on which the arrest warrant is based under the law of the executing State’. It is therefore apparent from the wording of Article 3(3) of Framework Decision 2002/584 that the ground for non-execution laid down in that provision does not cover minors in general but refers only to those who have not reached the age required, under the law of the executing Member State, to be regarded as criminally responsible for the acts on which the warrant issued against them is based. (see paras 28, 29, 38, operative part 1) 2. Article 3(3) of Framework Decision 2002/584, as amended by Framework Decision 2009/299, is to be interpreted as meaning that, in order to decide whether a minor who is the subject of a European arrest warrant is to be surrendered, the judicial authority of the executing Member State must simply verify whether the person concerned has reached the minimum age required to be regarded as criminally responsible in the executing Member State for the acts on which such a warrant is based, without having to consider any additional conditions, relating to an assessment based on the circumstances of the individual, to which the prosecution and conviction of a minor for such acts are specifically subject under the law of that Member State. (see para. 62, operative part 2)