62019CJ0649_RES
Case C‑649/19
Criminal proceedings
against
IR
(Request for a preliminary ruling from the Spetsializiran nakazatelen sad)
Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber), 28 January 2021
(Reference for a preliminary ruling – Judicial cooperation in criminal matters – Directive 2012/13/EU – Articles 4 to 7 – Letters of Rights set out in Annexes I and II – Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA – Right to information in criminal proceedings – Letter of Rights on arrest – Right to be informed of the accusation – Right of access to the materials of the case – Person arrested on the basis of a European arrest warrant in the executing Member State)
Judicial cooperation in criminal matters – Right to information in criminal proceedings – Directive 2012/13 – Rights of suspects or accused persons who are arrested or detained – Right to be provided with a Letter of Rights on arrest – Right of a person to be informed of the charges against him or her – Right of access to case materials – Scope ratione personae of those rights– Persons arrested for the purposes of the execution of a European arrest warrant – Not included
(European Parliament and Council Directive 2012/13, recitals 14, 27, 39, Arts 1, 4(3), 5, 6(2) and 7(1), Annexes I and II; Council Framework Decision 2002/584, as amended by Framework Decision 2009/299)
(see paragraphs 48, 49, 53-58, 61, 62, operative part 1)
Judicial cooperation in criminal matters – Framework Decision on the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between Member States – Substance and form of the European arrest warrant – Scope of the information communicated to persons arrested for the purposes of the execution of a European arrest warrant – Infringement of the rights to liberty and to an effective remedy – None
(Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Arts 6 and 47; Council Framework Decision 2002/584, as amended by Framework Decision 2009/299, Art. 8(1) and Annex; European Parliament and Council Directive 2012/13, Arts 4, 6 and 7 and Annex II)
(see paragraphs 73, 74, 76-81, operative part 2)
Résumé
The Spetsializirana prokuratura (Specialised Public Prosecutor’s Office, Bulgaria) brought criminal proceedings against IR, who is accused of having participated in a criminal group for the purpose of committing tax offences. During the pre-trial stage of the criminal proceedings, IR, as an ‘accused person’, was informed of only some of his rights. However, when the trial stage of the criminal proceedings commenced in February 2017, IR could not be found. In April 2017, the Spetsializiran nakazatelen sad (Specialised Criminal Court, Bulgaria) adopted a pre-trial detention measure in respect of him; that measure constituted a national arrest warrant. In May 2017, as IR had still not been found, a European arrest warrant (EAW) was issued. Nevertheless, since it had doubts regarding the compatibility of that EAW with EU law, the Spetsializiran nakazatelen sad (Specialised Criminal Court) annulled it.
Having decided to issue a new EAW in respect of IR, that court seeks clarification as regards the information to be attached to that warrant, in order to ensure observance of the rights provided for by the Directive on the right to information in criminal proceedings (‘Directive 2012/13’). (
1
) More specifically, that court seeks to ascertain whether persons who are arrested for the purposes of the execution of an EAW can rely, in addition to the rights expressly conferred on them by Directive 2012/13, on the rights of ‘suspects or accused persons who are arrested or detained’ within the meaning of that directive. Should that question be answered in the negative, the Spetsializiran nakazatelen sad (Specialised Criminal Court) questions the validity of the Framework Decision on the EAW, (
2
) in the light of the right to liberty and the right to an effective remedy enshrined in Articles 6 and 47, respectively, of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the Charter’). The information communicated to persons arrested for the purposes of the execution of an EAW on the basis of the Framework Decision on the EAW is more limited than the information communicated to suspects or accused persons who are arrested or detained in accordance with Directive 2012/13, so that that court questions whether it would not become impossible or excessively difficult for persons arrested for the purposes of the execution of an EAW to challenge warrants issued against them.
Findings of the Court
In the first place, the Court states that the rights of suspects or accused persons who are arrested or detained provided for by Directive 2012/13 do not apply to persons who are arrested for the purposes of the execution of an EAW. Those rights include, inter alia, the right to be provided with a written Letter of Rights on arrest, which must contain information about the possibility of challenging the lawfulness of the arrest, obtaining a review of the detention, or making a request for provisional release. (
3
) Also included are the right to information about the accusation (
4
) and the right of access to the materials of the case that are essential to challenging the lawfulness of the arrest or detention. (
5
)
In order to reach that conclusion, and after finding that an analysis of the wording of the provisions of Directive 2012/13 conferring those various rights did not, in itself, enable it to be determined whether the persons who are arrested for the purposes of the execution of an EAW are included in the suspects or accused persons who are arrested or detained within the meaning of that directive and to whom those rights apply, the Court analyses, first, the context of those provisions. In that regard, it states that Directive 2012/13 contains other provisions which expressly concern the rights of persons who are arrested for the purposes of the execution of an EAW. (
6
) Moreover, references in Directive 2012/13 to suspects or accused persons who are arrested or detained should be understood to refer to any situation where those suspects or persons are deprived of liberty within the meaning of Article 5(1)(c) of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, signed at Rome on 4 November 1950 (‘the ECHR’). (
7
) Such a situation is different from the lawful arrest or detention of a person against whom action is being taken with a view to deportation or extradition, also referred to in the ECHR, (
8
) and which corresponds to the case of an EAW. For the Court, it follows from this that the provisions referring to suspects or accused persons who are arrested or detained do not concern persons who are arrested for the purposes of the execution of an EAW.
Second, the Court considers that that interpretation is confirmed by the fact that Directive 2012/13 sets out a twofold objective. (
9
) It lays down minimum standards to be applied in the field of information to be given to suspected or accused persons, in order to enable them to prepare their defence and to safeguard the fairness of the proceedings. It also seeks to preserve the specific characteristics of the procedure relating to EAWs, which is characterised by a desire to simplify and expedite the surrender procedure.
In the second place, the Court confirms the validity of the Framework Decision on the EAW in the light of Articles 6 and 47 of the Charter, which enshrine the right to liberty and the right to an effective remedy, respectively.
In that regard, the Court recalls, first of all, that, since the issuing of an EAW is capable of impinging on the right to liberty of the person concerned, the protection of procedural rights and fundamental rights that that person must enjoy means that a decision meeting the requirements of effective judicial protection should be adopted either when the national arrest warrant is adopted or when the EAW is issued.
Next, the Court emphasises that the person who is the subject of an EAW issued for the purposes of criminal prosecution acquires, from the moment of his or her surrender, the status of ‘accused person’ within the meaning of Directive 2012/13. Thus, from that moment, that person enjoys all the rights associated with that status, so that he or she can prepare his or her defence and safeguard the fairness of the proceedings.
As regards the period preceding that surrender, first, the Court states that the Framework Decision on the EAW provides that an EAW must contain information concerning the nature and legal classification of the offence and a description of the circumstances in which the offence was committed. (
10
) That information corresponds, in essence, to the information referred to in the provisions of Directive 2012/13 concerning the right of suspects or accused persons to information about the accusation. (
11
) Second, the Court recalls that the right to effective judicial protection does not require that the right to challenge the decision to issue an EAW can be exercised before the surrender of the person concerned. Consequently, the mere fact that the person in question is not informed about the remedies available in the issuing Member State and is not given access to the materials of the case until after he or she is surrendered to the competent authorities of that Member State cannot result in any infringement of the right to effective judicial protection.
(
1
)	Directive 2012/13/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2012 on the right to information in criminal proceedings (OJ 2012 L 142, p. 1).
(
2
)	Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA of 13 June 2002 on the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between Member States (OJ 2002 L 190, p. 1), as amended by Council Framework Decision 2009/299/JHA of 26 February 2009 (OJ 2009 L 81, p. 24) (‘the Framework Decision on the EAW’).
(
3
)	See Article 4 of Directive 2012/13, in particular Article 4(3) thereof.
(
4
)	See Article 6(2) of Directive 2012/13.
(
5
)	See Article 7(1) of Directive 2012/13.
(
6
)	See Article 5 of Directive 2012/13. See also Annex II to that directive, which sets out the indicative model Letter of Rights for persons arrested on the basis of an EAW; that model letter is distinct from the indicative model Letter of Rights to be provided to suspects and accused persons who are arrested or detained, set out in Annex I thereto and referred to in Article 4 of Directive 2012/13.
(
7
)	See recital 21 of Directive 2012/13.
(
8
)	See Article 5(1)(f) of the ECHR.
(
9
)	See Article 1 of the directive, read in conjunction with recitals 14, 27 and 39 thereof.
(
10
)	See Article 8(1)(d) and (e) of the Framework Decision on the EAW.
(
11
)	See Article 6 of Directive 2012/13.