Case C-743/24, Alchaster II: Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 3 April 2025 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Supreme Court – Ireland) – Criminal proceedings relating to the execution of arrest warrants issued against MA (Reference for a preliminary ruling – Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part – Surrender of a person to the United Kingdom for criminal prosecution – Risk of breach of a fundamental right – Second sentence of Article 49(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union – Principle that offences and penalties must be defined by law – Changes, to the detriment of the sentenced person, to the licence regime)
Date: 2025-04-03
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: conditional discharge, criminal law, criminal proceedings, imprisonment, offence








C_202503026EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/3026


10.6.2025






Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 3 April 2025 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Supreme Court – Ireland) – Criminal proceedings relating to the execution of arrest warrants issued against MA


(Case C-743/24,
                (1)
Alchaster II)
                (2)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part - Surrender of a person to the United Kingdom for criminal prosecution - Risk of breach of a fundamental right - Second sentence of Article 49(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union - Principle that offences and penalties must be defined by law - Changes, to the detriment of the sentenced person, to the licence regime)
(C/2025/3026)
Language of the case: English

Referring court

Supreme Court

Parties in the main proceedings


Defendant: MA

Intervening party: Minister for Justice and Equality

Operative part of the judgment

The second sentence of Article 49(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union must be interpreted as meaning that the application, to a person who may be sentenced to a determinate term of imprisonment, of a regime under which that person must serve at least two thirds of a fixed custodial period before being eligible for release on licence, such release is conditional upon a specialised authority finding that the continued imprisonment of that person is no longer necessary for the protection of society and that person is necessarily eligible for release on licence one year before the end of the sentence imposed, does not constitute the imposition of a heavier penalty, when, under the rules applicable on the date of the alleged commission of the offences at issue, he or she should automatically have been eligible for release on licence after having served half of that sentence.


(1)  JO C C/2025/153.

(2)  The name of the present case is a fictitious name. It does not correspond to the real name of any party to the proceedings.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/3026/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)