CJEU Case C-665/20 PPU / Judgment

X.
Policy area
Justice, freedom and security
Deciding body type
Court of Justice of the European Union
Deciding body
Court (Fifth Chamber)
Type
Decision
Decision date
29/04/2021
ECLI (European case law identifier)
ECLI:EU:C:2021:339
  • CJEU Case C-665/20 PPU / Judgment

    Key facts of the case:

    Request for a preliminary ruling from the Rechtbank Amsterdam.

    Reference for a preliminary ruling – Urgent preliminary ruling procedure – Judicial cooperation in criminal matters – Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA – European arrest warrant – Grounds for optional non-execution – Article 4(5) – Requested person has been finally judged in a third State in respect of the same acts – Sentence has been served or may no longer be executed under the law of the sentencing country – Implementation – Margin of discretion of the executing judicial authority – Concept of ‘same acts’ – Remission of sentence granted by a non-judicial authority as part of a general leniency measure.

     

    Outcome of the case:

    On those grounds, the Court (Fifth Chamber) hereby rules:

    1.  Article 4(5) of Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA of 13 June 2002 on the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between Member States, as amended by Council Framework Decision 2009/299/JHA of 26 February 2009, must be interpreted as meaning that, where a Member State chooses to transpose that provision into its domestic law, the executing judicial authority must have a margin of discretion in order to determine whether or not it is appropriate to refuse to execute a European arrest warrant on the ground referred to in that provision.
    2. Article 3(2) and Article 4(5) of Framework Decision 2002/584, as amended by Framework Decision 2009/299, must be interpreted as meaning that the concept of ‘same acts’, contained in both provisions, must be interpreted uniformly.
    3. Article 4(5) of Framework Decision 2002/584, as amended by Framework Decision 2009/299, which makes the application of the ground for optional non-execution laid down in that provision subject to the condition that, where there has been a sentence, the sentence has been served, is currently being served or may no longer be executed under the law of the sentencing country, must be interpreted as meaning that that condition is satisfied where the requested person has been finally sentenced, for the same acts, to a term of imprisonment, of which part has been served in the third State in which the sentence was handed down, whilst the remainder of that sentence has been remitted by a non-judicial authority of that State, as part of a general leniency measure that also applies to persons convicted of serious acts and is not based on objective criminal policy considerations. It is for the executing judicial authority, when exercising the discretion it enjoys, to strike a balance between, on the one hand, preventing impunity and combating crime and, on the other, ensuring legal certainty for the person concerned.
  • Paragraphs referring to EU Charter

    50) The executing judicial authority’s lack of discretion when applying the ground for non-execution provided for in Article 3(2) of the Framework Decision follows from the requirement to respect the ne bis in idem principle enshrined in Article 50 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

    51)That principle, as guaranteed in Article 50 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, means that a person may not be tried in criminal proceedings in a Member State for an offence for which he or she has already been acquitted or convicted ‘within the Union’.