Gaetano Mantello.
Date: 2010-11-16
35. As a preliminary point, it should be recalled that, as is apparent in particular from Article 1(1) and (2) of the Framework Decision and from recitals 5 and 7 in the preamble thereto, the purpose of the Framework Decision is to replace the multilateral system of extradition between Member States with a system of surrender, as between judicial authorities, of convicted persons or suspects for the purpose of enforcing judgments or of criminal proceedings, that system of surrender being based on the principle of mutual recognition (Case C‑123/08 Wolzenburg  [2009] ECR I‑9621, paragraph 56).
36. The principle of mutual recognition, which underpins the Framework Decision, means that, in accordance with Article 1(2) of the Framework Decision, the Member States are in principle obliged to act upon a European arrest warrant (Case C-388/08 PPU Leymann and Pustovarov  [2008] ECR I‑8983, paragraph 51).
37. The Member States may refuse to execute such a warrant only in the cases of mandatory non-execution laid down in Article 3 of the Framework Decision or in the cases listed in Article 4 thereof (see, to that effect, Leymann and Pustarov , paragraph 51).
38. In that regard, the concept of ‘same acts’ in Article 3(2) of the Framework Decision cannot be left to the discretion of the judicial authorities of each Member State on the basis of their national law. It follows from the need for uniform application of European Union law that, since that provision makes no reference to the law of the Member States with regard to that concept, the latter must be given an autonomous and uniform interpretation throughout the European Union (see, by analogy, Case C‑66/08 Koszłowski  [2008] ECR I‑6041, paragraphs 41 and 42). It is therefore an autonomous concept of European Union law which, as such, may be the subject of a reference for a preliminary ruling by any court before which a relevant action has been brought, under the conditions laid down in Title VII of Protocol No 36 to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union on transitional provisions.
39. It should be recalled that that concept of the ‘same acts’ also appears in Article 54 of the CISA. In that context, the concept has been interpreted as referring only to the nature of the acts, encompassing a set of concrete circumstances which are inextricably linked together, irrespective of the legal classification given to them or the legal interest protected (see Case C-436/04 Van Esbroeck  [2006] ECR I‑2333, paragraphs 27, 32 and 36, and Case C-150/05 Van Straaten  [2006] ECR I‑9327, paragraphs 41, 47 and 48).
40. In view of the shared objective of Article 54 of the CISA and Article 3(2) of the Framework Decision, which is to ensure that a person is not prosecuted or tried more than once in respect of the same acts, it must be accepted that an interpretation of that concept given in the context of the CISA is equally valid for the purposes of the Framework Decision.
45. In that regard, a requested person is considered to have been finally judged in respect of the same acts within the meaning of Article 3(2) of the Framework Decision where, following criminal proceedings, further prosecution is definitively barred (see, by analogy, Joined Cases C-187/01 and C-385/01 Gözütok and Brügge  [2003] ECR I-1345, paragraph 30, and Case C-491/07 Turanský  [2008] ECR I‑11039, paragraph 32) or where the judicial authorities of a Member State have adopted a decision by which the accused is finally acquitted in respect of the alleged acts (see, by analogy, Van Straaten , paragraph 61, and Turanský , paragraph 33).
46. Whether a person has been ‘finally’ judged for the purposes of Article 3(2) of the Framework Decision is determined by the law of the Member State in which judgment was delivered.
47. Thus, a decision which, under the law of the Member State which instituted criminal proceedings against a person, does not definitively bar further prosecution at national level in respect of certain acts cannot, in principle, constitute a procedural obstacle to the possible opening or continuation of criminal proceedings in respect of the same acts against that person in one of the Member States of the European Union (see, by analogy, Turanský , paragraph 36).
50. Consequently, in circumstances such as those at issue in the main proceedings, where the issuing judicial authority, in response to a request for information within the meaning of Article 15(2) of the Framework Decision made by the executing judicial authority, expressly stated and explained that its earlier judgment did not cover the acts referred to in the arrest warrant issued by it and therefore did not preclude the criminal proceedings referred to in that arrest warrant, that executing judicial authority was obliged to draw all the appropriate conclusions from the assessments made by the issuing judicial authority in its response.