In 2022, 1 262 Eurojust cases (including 504 new and 758 ongoing from previous years) involved European Arrest Warrants (EAWs). The number of new cases involving EAWs increased slightly compared to the previous year.

Eurojust support to national authorities with the drafting and execution of EAWs

During 2022, Eurojust continued to provide support and advice to national authorities across the full life cycle of the EAW, from drafting to the execution phase. Support was provided to (urgent) requests for additional information, advice in case of competing EAWs, questions on in absentia judgments and Petruhhin-related requests.

In addition to providing support to cases, Eurojust’s Judicial Cooperation Instruments Team discussed legal issues emerging from Eurojust cases. They addressed, for instance, questions surrounding the detention of the requested person in the context of a postponement of a surrender or extradition. They also discussed the speciality rule in the context of surrender and extradition.

Case law by the Court of Justice of the European Union on the EAW

Throughout the year, the Agency monitored the relevant case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, and in December 2022 published an overview. This latest edition includes summaries of six new judgments compared to the previous edition, touching upon issues such as the right to an independent tribunal previously established by law, the ne bis in idem principle, dual criminality and force majeure.

Evaluating the application of the EAW

The EAW was one of the key instruments evaluated in the 9th Round of mutual evaluations on mutual recognition of legal instruments in the field of deprivation or restriction of liberty. Between 2019 and 2022, Eurojust participated as an observer in the vast majority of evaluation visits organised, including five that took place in 2022. The final report on the ninth round of mutual evaluations was published by the Council in March 2022. It contains key recommendations addressed to Member States and EU institutions and agencies, aiming to further enhance the application of the EAW and other instruments addressed by the evaluations.

High-level conference of French EU Presidency on 20 years of judicial cooperation and use of the European Arrest Warrant

In February 2022, the French Ministry of Justice organised a high-level conference on the role the EAW plays in countering terrorism. During the first session moderated by Eurojust’s National Member for Spain, French and Belgian prosecutors specialised in counter-terrorism debated the use of the EAW since its introduction in 2004. The conference’s second session paid particular attention to the importance of the fundamental rights of suspects. High-level representatives from the Court of Justice, the European Bar Association and legal experts discussed how to maintain a good balance between maintaining guarantees for fundamental rights and ensuring the continued effectiveness of the warrant.

Eurojust’s advice on competing EAWs and temporary surrender followed by executing court

Crime: Belgium and Germany each issue EAWs against the same person, in relation to different acts of voluntary manslaughter. Both the German and the Belgian EAWs are for the purposes of prosecution. The requested person is in prison in France for the execution of a custodial sentence for other offences.

Eurojust's role: In 2022, the General Prosecution Office of Paris requests Eurojust to provide an opinion on the priority to be given between the German and the Belgian EAWs, and to clarify legal issues related to a subsequent surrender.

Judicial tool: Eurojust, applying its Guidelines for deciding on competing requests for surrender and extradition, advises, based on the specifics of the case, that priority should be given to the Belgian EAW. However, since the requested person is currently serving a custodial sentence in France, the competent French Court should also consider, after its decision to execute the Belgian EAW, a temporary surrender of the requested person to Belgium based on Article 24(2) EAW FD for the duration of the Belgian proceedings.

The French court follows Eurojust’s advice to prioritise the Belgian EAW and agrees with the Belgian counterparts on a temporary surrender. The French and Belgian authorities also remain in close contact with the German authorities to ensure the execution of the German EAW at a later stage.

Rapid arrest in Hungary via Eurojust of suspected killer of Argentinian rugby star

19 March 2022 - The former Argentinian rugby professional, Federico Martín Aramburú, who played for his national squad as well as several top-division teams in Scotland and France, is fatally wounded during a shooting in Paris.

22 March 2022 - The suspect, who had fled to Hungary heading for Ukraine, is held by the border police following a search warrant from French law enforcement authorities.

23 March 2022 - Via on-call coordination during the night, the French and Hungarian desks at Eurojust rapidly transmit the EAW issued by the judicial authorities in Paris in just a few hours, before the end of the legal preventive custody. Thanks to this overnight support from Eurojust, the alleged suspect of the murder is arrested in Hungary in the morning.

25 March 2022 - The Hungarian judge surrenders the suspect to the French authorities.