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

2.1.1 Further resistance: national implementation
The resistance to the changes introduced by the EAW was also felt at a legislative level.
In fact, several Member States opted to maintain exceptions based on human rights,
nationality, dual criminality, among some others. Examples are many and varied. Italy
for instance added seven mandatory grounds for refusal including the political nature of
the offence, insufficient evidence, subjection of the requested person to an indefinite
period of preventive custody, or, unawareness that certain act are deemed as criminal in
another State, where the requested person is an Italian citizen, where the requested
person is pregnant or is a mother of a child less than 3 years old (except in
circumstances of an exceptional gravity). 791
the Netherlands shall refuse extradition of a national if the Dutch executing authority
finds out that there can be no doubt that the requested person is innocent. 792 Portugal and
Denmark both introduced political reasons as grounds for mandatory refusal. 793
The UK allows its Secretary of State to overrule the decision of a judge or direct a judge
if he believes the requested person was acting in the interests of the UK. It also
introduced other ground for refusal based on passage of time and extraneous
considerations. 794
Poland introduced refusal based on political grounds and partly reintroduced the
principles of non extradition of nationals and dual criminality by preventing execution
when the offence was committed by a national in Polish territory or when the offence
791 European Commission Report COM(2007)407 final, supra note 751, 8-9. See also
‘Disposizioni per conformare il diritto interno alla decisione quadro 2002/584/GAI del Consiglio,
del 13 giugno 2002, relativa al mandato d'arresto europeo e alle procedure di consegna tra Stati
membri’; available at
http://www.asser.nl/upload/eurowarrantwebroot/documents/cms_eaw_41_1_EJN646.pdf.
792 Ibid., 10. See for a link to Dutch national legislation implementing the EAW
http://www.asser.nl/Default.aspxsite_id=8&level1=10789&level2=10836&level3=11077.
793
Ibid., 10. See, in relation to Portugal, Law 65/2003 of 23 August, available at
http://www.asser.nl/upload/eurowarrant-webroot/documents/cms_eaw_2_1_EJN468.pdf; and, in
relation to Denmark, Law No 433 of 10 June 2003 amending the Law on the extradition of
offenders and the Law on the extradition of offenders to Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden
(transposition of the Council Framework Decision on the European arrest warrant, etc.), available
at http://www.asser.nl/upload/eurowarrant-webroot/documents/cms_eaw_187_1_EJN402.pdf.
794 Ibid., 10. See also Extradition Act 2003, available at http://www.asser.nl/upload/eurowarrantwebroot/documents/cms_eaw_55_1_bill%20england.pdf.
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