Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 27 May 2019.
OG and PI.
Requests for a preliminary ruling from the Supreme Court and High Court (Ireland).
References for a preliminary ruling — Urgent preliminary ruling procedure — Police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters — European arrest warrant — Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA — Article 6(1) — Concept of ‘issuing judicial authority’ — European arrest warrant issued by a public prosecutor’s office of a Member State — Legal position — Whether subordinate to a body of the executive — Power of a Ministry of Justice to issue an instruction in a specific case — No guarantee of independence.
Joined Cases C-508/18 and C-82/19 PPU. (2019)
Language: English

In those circumstances the Supreme Court decided to stay the proceedings and to refer the following questions to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling:
‘(1)
Is the independence from the executive of a public prosecutor to be decided in accordance with his position under the relevant national legal system? If not, what are the criteria according to which independence from the executive is to be decided?
(2)
Is a public prosecutor who, in accordance with national law, is subject to a possible direction or instruction either directly or indirectly from a Ministry of Justice, sufficiently independent of the executive to be considered a “judicial authority”, within the meaning of Article 6(1) of Framework Decision 2002/584?
(3)
If so, must the public prosecutor also be functionally independent of the executive and what are the criteria according to which functional independence is to be decided?
(4)
If independent of the executive, is a public prosecutor who is confined to initiating and conducting investigations and assuring that such investigations are conducted objectively and lawfully, the issuing of indictments, executing judicial decisions and conducting the prosecution of criminal offences, and does not issue national warrants and may not perform judicial functions a “judicial authority”, for the purposes of Article 6(1) of Framework Decision 2002/584?
(5)
Is the [Public Prosecutor’s Office in Lübeck] a “judicial authority” within the meaning of Article 6(1) of Framework Decision 2002/584?’

Legal relationship diagram (Graphviz):
digraph {
    rankdir=LR;
    node [shape=box];
    
   "The Court of Justice"[shape=doubleoctagon];
   "Supreme Court (Ireland)"[shape=doubleoctagon];
    
   "Supreme Court (Ireland)"->"Questions to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling";
   "Questions to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling"->"The Court of Justice";
   "Supreme Court (Ireland)"->"Stay the proceedings"[dir=none];
   "Questions to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling"->"Is the independence from the executive of a public prosecutor to be decided in accordance with his position under the relevant national legal system? If not, what are the criteria according to which independence from the executive is to be decided?"[dir=none];
   "Questions to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling"->"Is a public prosecutor who, in accordance with national law, is subject to a possible direction or instruction either directly or indirectly from a Ministry of Justice, sufficiently independent of the executive to be considered a “judicial authority”, within the meaning of Article 6(1) of Framework Decision 2002/584?"[dir=none];
   "Questions to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling"->"If so, must the public prosecutor also be functionally independent of the executive and what are the criteria according to which functional independence is to be decided?"[dir=none];
   "Questions to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling"->"If independent of the executive, is a public prosecutor who is confined to initiating and conducting investigations and assuring that such investigations are conducted objectively and lawfully, the issuing of indictments, executing judicial decisions and conducting the prosecution of criminal offences, and does not issue national warrants and may not perform judicial functions a “judicial authority”, for the purposes of Article 6(1) of Framework Decision 2002/584?"[dir=none];
   "Questions to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling"->"Is the [Public Prosecutor’s Office in Lübeck] a “judicial authority” within the meaning of Article 6(1) of Framework Decision 2002/584?’"[dir=none];
}