Jeremy F. v Premier ministre.
Date: 2013-05-30
34. It should be recalled, as a preliminary point, that the purpose of the Framework Decision, as is apparent in particular from Article 1(1) and (2) and recitals 5 and 7 in the preamble, is to replace the multilateral system of extradition between Member States with a system of surrender between judicial authorities of convicted or suspected persons for the purpose of enforcing judgments or of conducting prosecutions, that system of surrender being based on the principle of mutual recognition (see Case C‑396/11 Radu  [2013] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 33, and Case C‑399/11 Melloni  [2013] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 36).
35. The Framework Decision thus seeks, by the establishment of a new simplified and more effective system for the surrender of persons convicted or suspected of having infringed criminal law, to facilitate and accelerate judicial cooperation with a view to contributing to the objective set for the European Union to become an area of freedom, security and justice, founded on the high level of confidence which should exist between the Member States ( Radu , paragraph 34, and Melloni , paragraph 37).
36. The principle of mutual recognition, which is the ‘cornerstone’ of judicial cooperation, means that, pursuant to Article 1(2) of the Framework Decision, Member States are in principle obliged to give effect to a European arrest warrant. They are either obliged to execute, or may not refuse to execute, such a warrant, and they may make its execution subject to conditions only in the cases listed in Articles 3 to 5 of the Framework Decision. Equally, in accordance with Article 28(3) of the Framework Decision, consent to an onward surrender may be refused only in those cases (see Case C‑192/12 PPU West  [2012] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 55 and the case-law cited), and only those cases can justify a refusal of consent to the extension of a European arrest warrant to an offence committed before the surrender of the requested person other than that for which he was surrendered, in accordance with Article 27(4) of the Framework Decision.
Possibility of bringing an appeal with suspensive effect
39. In the first place, the Framework Decision itself ensures that decisions relating to European arrest warrants are attended by all the guarantees appropriate for decisions of such a kind.
40. Thus, to begin with, Article 1(3) of the Framework Decision expressly states that the decision is not to have the effect of modifying the obligation to respect fundamental rights and fundamental legal principles as enshrined in Article 6 EU, an obligation which moreover concerns all the Member States, in particular both the issuing and the executing Member States.
41. Next, while corresponding to the objective, referred to in paragraph 35 above, of facilitating and accelerating judicial cooperation with a view to contributing to the objective set for the European Union to become an area of freedom, security and justice, the Framework Decision itself, as stated in the first paragraph of recital 12 in its preamble, also respects fundamental rights and observes the principles recognised by Article 6 EU and reflected in the Charter, in particular Chapter VI, as regards the person for whom a European arrest warrant has been issued.
44. Similarly, the Court has previously had occasion to find, in connection with the interpretation of Council Directive 2005/85/EC of 1 December 2005 on minimum standards on procedures in Member States for granting and withdrawing refugee status (OJ 2006 L 326, p. 13), that the principle of effective judicial protection affords an individual a right of access to a court but not to a number of levels of jurisdiction (Case C‑69/10 Samba Diouf  [2011] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 69).
45. It must be observed that, as stated in recital 8 in the preamble to the Framework Decision, decisions on the execution of the European arrest warrant must be subject to sufficient controls, which means that a judicial authority of the Member State where the requested person has been arrested has to take a decision on his surrender. Moreover, Article 6 of the Framework Decision provides that not only that decision but also the decision on issuing the warrant must be taken by a judicial authority. Action by a judicial authority is likewise required with respect to the consent provided for in Articles 27(4) and 28(3)(c) of the Framework Decision, and at other stages of the surrender procedure, such as hearing the requested person, deciding to keep him in detention, or deciding on his temporary transfer.
46. The entire surrender procedure between Member States provided for by the Framework Decision is therefore, in accordance with that decision, carried out under judicial supervision.
47. It follows that the provisions of the Framework Decision themselves already provide for a procedure that complies with the requirements of Article 47 of the Charter, regardless of the methods of implementing the Framework Decision chosen by the Member States.
48. Finally, it should be observed that even in criminal proceedings for the enforcement of a custodial sentence or detention order, or indeed in substantive criminal proceedings, which lie outside the scope of the Framework Decision and of European Union law, the Member States are still obliged to respect fundamental rights as enshrined in the Convention or laid down by their national law, which may include the right to a second level of jurisdiction for persons found guilty of a criminal offence by a court.
49. That obligation reinforces the high level of confidence between Member States and the principle of mutual recognition on which the mechanism of the European arrest warrant is based, and justifies the wording of recital 10 in the preamble to the Framework Decision, according to which the implementation of the European arrest warrant may be suspended only in the event of a serious and persistent breach by one of the Member States of the principles set out in Article 6(1) EU, determined by the Council pursuant to Article 7(1) EU with the consequences set out in Article 7(2) EU.
50. The principle of mutual recognition on which the European arrest warrant system is based is itself founded on the mutual confidence between the Member States that their national legal systems are capable of providing equivalent and effective protection of the fundamental rights recognised at European Union level, particularly in the Charter, so that it is therefore within the legal system of the issuing Member State that persons who are the subject of a European arrest warrant can avail themselves of any remedies which allow the lawfulness of the criminal proceedings for the enforcement of the custodial sentence or detention order, or indeed the substantive criminal proceedings which led to that sentence or order, to be contested (see, by analogy, Case C‑491/10 PPU Aguirre Zarraga  [2010] ECR I‑14247, paragraphs 70 and 71).
52. In the absence of further detail in the actual provisions of the Framework Decision, and having regard to Article 34 EU, which leaves to the national authorities the choice of form and methods needed to achieve the desired results of framework decisions, it must be concluded that the Framework Decision leaves the national authorities a discretion as to the specific manner of implementation of the objectives it pursues, with respect inter alia to the possibility of providing for an appeal with suspensive effect against decisions relating to a European arrest warrant.
53. It should be recalled that, provided that the application of the Framework Decision is not frustrated, as the second paragraph of recital 12 in the preamble states, it does not prevent a Member State from applying its constitutional rules relating inter alia to respect for the right to a fair trial.
57. It must be observed that, as pointed out in paragraphs 34 and 35 above, the object of the Framework Decision is to replace the multilateral system of extradition between Member States with a simplified and more effective system of surrender between judicial authorities which facilitates and accelerates judicial cooperation. As stated in recital 5 in the preamble to the Framework Decision, the introduction of such a system of surrender makes it possible to remove the complexity and potential for delay inherent in the extradition procedures existing before the adoption of that decision.
58. That objective of accelerating judicial cooperation is present in various aspects of the Framework Decision, inter alia in the treatment of the time-limits for adopting decisions relating to a European arrest warrant.
62. The importance of the time-limits set by Article 17 is seen not only in that article but also in other provisions of the Framework Decision, such as Articles 13(4), 15(2), 20 and 21 and the second indent of Article 31(2).
64. It follows that the time-limits prescribed in Article 17 of the Framework Decision must be interpreted as requiring the final decision on the execution of the European arrest warrant to be taken, in principle, either within 10 days from consent being given to the surrender of the requested person, or, in other cases, within 60 days from his arrest. Only in specific cases may those periods be extended by an additional 30 days, and only in exceptional circumstances may the time-limits prescribed in Article 17 not be complied with by a Member State.