Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1168782
11 LAST year's arrest of former President of the Government of Catalonia and pro-Inde- pendence Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont in Germany sparked a big debate and the issue attracted a lot of media attention. His controversial arrest was conducted under a Euro- pean Arrest Warrant (EAW) whereby it was possible for German authorities to arrest Mr Puigdemont on Spain's orders. Mr Puigdemont fled Spain following the chaotic events which dominated the Catalan Independence Refer- endum in 2017 - a referendum declared illegal by the Spanish government. As a result, Spain issued an EAW on Mr Puigdemont charging the Catalan leader with rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds. Follow- ing the EAW, German authori- ties detained him while on a highway patrol in Germany. The case in question was re- ferred to in a bid to cite an ex- ample of how the EAW works. This procedure was established in 2004 in order to simplify and facilitate cross-border surren- der procedures and extradition processes within EU Member States. Prior to the establishment of the EAW, surrender and extradition processes from one Member State to another were often lengthy, complicated and often involved a lot of political or government interference. With the EAW in place, an ar- rest warrant issued by a judicial authority in one EU Member State enjoys 'mutual recogni- tion' in all the other Member States. In other words, judicial deci- sions taken in one judiciary are also applicable in another, given that the criteria and conditions are met. This also means that Member States can- not reject surrender orders of their own nationals if they are arrested in another Member State. Conditions and criteria remain. For instance, before an EAW is issued, a 'propor- tionality check' is made. This check evaluates the gravity of the offence, the imprisonment sentence attributed to the of- fence and whether an EAW for the crime in question will be worthwhile. This eliminates the use of an EAW for minor offences, such as crimes with a penalty sen- tence of less than one year. There are, in all, 32 crime categories recognised by the EAW - these crimes do not require verification of whether the crime is a criminal act by the laws of both Member States (the Member State where the fugitive is from and the Member State where the fugitive is arrested). These crime categories include ter- rorist acts, murder, armed robbery, trafficking of human beings, weapons or drugs , to mention a few. However, there could be crimes which are considered serious criminal acts in one Member State but not in another. In this case, a double criminality check would be required by the law courts. For example, going back to the Puigdemont case, the Ger- man courts conducted a double criminality check and ruled that he could be extradited to Spain on charges of misuse of public funds but not on charges of 'rebellion' since German law varies from Spanish law on this matter. Needless to say, thanks to the identified 32 crime categories in the EAW, this mechanism has made coordination and cooperation between the judi- cial systems of Member States easier as well as more efficient and effective. According to statistics provid- ed by the European Justice por- tal in 2016, 5,812 EAWs were made in the whole of the EU. In Malta alone, until April of this year, the Malta Police Force handled 6 arrests through EAWs, including serious cases such as the arrest of an Ital- ian man wanted on charges of illegal betting and involvement in mafia organisations and the arrest of a British man wanted by the United Kingdom on charges of murder. The mechanism is a testa- ment that EU cooperation can be fruitful, not only when it exists between Member States' governments, but also when it involves fundamental struc- tures such as judicial authori- ties. In this way, justice can be served properly and in a timely manner. maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 18 SEPTEMBER 2019 Abigail Mizzi forms part of the EU Policy & Legislation team at MEUSAC OPINION Abigail Mizzi EU Protects: How a European arrest warrant works www.creditinfo.com.mt info@creditinfo.com.mt Tel: 2131 2344 Your Local Partner for Credit Risk Management Solutions Supporting you all the way