EU Court: A Member State may refuse to execute a European arrest warrant but is required to ensure the sentence is enforced

Brussels – An EU Member State may refuse to execute a European arrest warrant, provided that it enforces the custodial sentence within its own territory. This was established by the Court of Justice of the EU in a judgment. A country may decide not to transfer a convicted person if it considers that the transfer could result in inhuman or degrading prison conditions. However, the national authority that decides not to execute the European arrest warrant “is required actively to seek to ensure that the requested person does not go unpunished as a result of that
refusal,” and, therefore, the judges in Luxembourg explain, it is necessary to “ensure that sentences are enforced within its own territory.” 

The Court’s decision broadens the scope of the case law in this area. The judges in Luxembourg had already made it clear that a European arrest warrant may not be executed on health grounds.