Autor: Anca JURMA
Publicat în: Revista Pro Lege nr. 1/2020
Disponibil online: aici
Conclusions regarding the operationalization of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Romania
Abstract: The Court again faced preliminary references within which it had to establish whether the Public Ministry (Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) can be considered as the „issuing judicial authority” of a European arrest warrant (EAW), within the meaning of art. 6 para. (1) of Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA. While the Case C-626/19 PPU concerns the EAW issued for criminal prosecution, regarding the related cases C-566/19 PPU and C-626/19 PPU, the referring court relates to the EAW issued for the enforcement of a custodial sentence imposed by a final decision. In the related cases C-566/19 PPU and C-626/19 PPU the Court (First Chamber) held: Article 6 para. (1) of the Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA of 13 June 2002 on the European Arrest Warrant and surrender procedures between Member States, as amended by the Council Framework Decision 2009/299/JHA of 26 February 2009, it must be interpreted as having the meaning that they fall within the notion of „issuing judicial authority”, within the meaning of this provision, magistrates within the prosecutor’s office of a Member State who exercise the criminal action and are under the guidance and control of their hierarchical superiors, since their statute grants them a guarantee of independence, especially in relation to the executive branch, when issuing the European arrest warrant. The Framework Decision 2002/584, as amended by the Framework Decision 2009/299/JHA, must be interpreted as meaning that the requirements inherent in the effective judicial protection of a person on whose behalf a European arrest warrant has been issued for the criminal prosecution is fulfilled, since according to the law of the issuing Member State, the conditions for issuing this mandate and in particular its proportional character, are subject to the judicial control in that Member State.
Keywords: European arrest warrant, issuing judicial authority, Public Ministry, prosecutor