Meer documenten
Commission decides to refer Czechia and Hungary to the Court of Justice of the European Union for incorrectly transposing rules on the European Arrest Warrant
Today, the European Commission decided to refer Czechia and Hungary to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to comply with the Framework Decision on the European Arrest Warrant (2002/584/JHA).
The Commission sent a first letter of formal notice to Czechia in December 2020 and an additional letter of formal notice in November 2023 for failure to transpose correctly several provisions of the Framework Decision on the European Arrest Warrant (EAW). Czechia then adopted a new amending law to remedy the Commission's concerns. However, the Commission considered that not all of its concerns were addressed and sent accordingly a reasoned opinion in March 2025. Czech authorities replied in May 2025. The Commission considers once again that not all of its concerns are addressed.
Before a decision on surrender is taken, a requested person can either be temporarily transferred to the issuing Member State or be heard in the executing Member State. Under the Framework Decision, the executing judicial authority must agree to either of these options. This is not provided for in Czech law. Furthermore, the conditions and duration of a temporary transfer must be determined by mutual agreement between the issuing judicial authority and the executing judicial authority. However, Czech law unilaterally requires a temporary transfer to not exceed 10 days. This goes against the Framework Decision.
In June 2021, the Commission sent a first letter of formal notice to Hungary for non-communication and incorrect transposition of the Framework Decision. After assessing the replies of Hungarian authorities, the Commission sent an additional letter of formal notice to Hungary in November 2023, as some of the grievances identified by the Commission persisted, such as on the grounds for not executing an EAW. The replies provided by Hungary to the letter of formal notice, additional letter of formal notice and the newly notified legislation failed to satisfactorily address all the concerns identified. The Commission therefore sent a reasoned opinion to Hungary in July 2025. Hungary subsequently informed the Commission that it had amended its corresponding legislation to address most of the concerns of the Commission.
The Commission maintains that Hungarian law incorrectly transposes the provision on the optional ground for refusal “lack of double criminality”. The Framework Decision provides for a list of offences where an EAW must be recognised even if they are not criminalised in the executing Member State. For offences that are not in that list, such as theft, Member States can provide that the executing judicial authority can refuse an EAW if the offence is not criminalised in their jurisdiction. In that case however, the judicial authority must have a margin of discretion under national law. However, Hungarian law does not provide for such a margin of discretion and makes thus this ground for refusal mandatory, meaning that, under Hungarian law, judicial authorities are obliged to refuse the execution of an EAW if the offence is not criminalised in Hungary. This is contrary to the Framework Decision.
Therefore, the Commission decided to refer Czechia and Hungary to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Background
The European arrest warrant (EAW) is a simplified cross-border judicial procedure to surrender a requested person for the purpose of prosecution or executing a custodial sentence or detention order. Operational since 1 January 2004, the EAW has replaced the lengthy extradition procedures that existed between EU Member States. The Framework Decision establishes common rules and procedures for the issuance, recognition, and execution of EAWs, making it easier to combat cross-border crime and bring criminals to justice, while also ensuring respect for fundamental rights and the principles of rule of law.
For more information
Infringement decisions database and infringements map and graphs
Infringement procedure Czechia INFR(2020)2312 and Hungary INFR(2021)2071