The evolution of European Union criminal law (1957-2012)

These changes in extradition across the European Union took place in a haste after the
9/11 attacks in NY with the Commission’s submission of a draft proposal ten days after
the events. The proposal was further pushed through the Council in three months only.
To be sure, the Framework Decision was already being negotiated for a significant
amount of time but those negotiations had, at that stage, no end in sight and the draft put
forward by the Commission after 9/11 was significantly different. Hence, the EAW,
which Douglas Scott called the “jewel in the crown of the EU’s responses to the terrorist
attacks”, was passed through the deliberative process with extreme urgency. 705
The EAW is a judicial decision issued by a judicial authority of a Member State aiming
at the arrest and surrender of a requested person by another Member State for the
purposes of conducting a criminal prosecution or executing a detention order or a
custodial sentence. 706 Such a judicial decision can be issued only in relation to acts
punishable by the law of the issuing Member State by a custodial sentence or a detention
order of a maximum of at least 12 months, or by a passed sentence of a custodial
sentence of at least 4 months. 707
The main objective of the Framework Decision is to make extradition in relation to such
criminality a simpler and faster process. 708 A first step to this involved the
‘depoliticisation’ of the process which is now to be entirely decided by the judiciary.
This was expected to make surrender based on more objective and formal criteria rather
than bilateral processes that can involve political negotiation. Secondly, very tight
deadlines for the execution of an EAW and the surrender of individuals in question were
established. The wording of the framework decision is particularly telling when it noted
that a request shall be dealt with as a ‘matter of urgency’. 709 In fact, the final decision to
surrender an individual shall be taken within 10 days (when the requested person
consents to her surrender) or within 60 days (when there is no such consent). 710
Furthermore, the person requested shall be surrendered no later than 10 days after the
705 Accordingly the speed of the process was such that the European Parliament even received out
of date and last minute drafts, see S. Douglas-Scott, “The rule of law in the European Union”, see
supra note 393, 228.
706 See Article 1(1) of the Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA, supra note 383.
707 Article 2(1), ibid..
708 The EAW “should replace all the previous instruments concerning extradition”, Intent 11 of
the Preamble of the Framework Decision, ibid..
709 Article 17 ibid..
710 Article 17 ibid..
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