European arrest warrants and the independence of the issuing judicial authority – How much independence is required? (Case note on joined cases C-508/18 and C-82/19 PPU OG and PI)
| Published date | 01 December 2019 |
| Date | 01 December 2019 |
| Author | Chad Heimrich |
| DOI | 10.1177/2032284419879232 |
| Subject Matter | Case Notes |
Case Note
European arrest warrants
and the independence of the
issuing judicial authority – How
much independence is required?
(Case note on joined cases
C-508/18 and C-82/19 PPU
OG and PI)
Chad Heimrich
District Court (Landgericht) Kassel, Germany
Abstract
This case note examines the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU)’s decision in OG (C-
508/18) and PI (C-82/19 PPU) concerning the interpretation of the notion of ‘issuing judicial
authority’ within the meaning of Article 6(1) Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA. It assesses
whether the German Public Prosecutor’s Office can be considered to be sufficiently independent
to issue European Arrest Warrants. In this context, the CJEU’s previous case law on Article 6(1)
will be taken into consideration and briefly outlined. The case note, then, summarises the Opinion
of the Advocate General and the Court’s line of reasoning and closes with a commentary on the
decision.
Keywords
European arrest warran t, independence, issu ing judicial authority , Public Prosecutor’s Of fice,
mutual recognition
Introduction
The message given by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) was loud and clear:
Germany’s Public Prosecutor’s Offices are not sufficiently independent to issue European Arrest
Warrants (EAW). The Court’s decision in OG (C-508/18) and PI (C-82/19 PPU), however, did not
Corresponding author:
Chad Heimrich, Legal Trainee, District Court (Landgericht), Frankfurter Straße 7, 34117 Kassel, Germany.
E-mail: chad.hmrch@gmail.com
New Journal of European Criminal Law
2019, Vol. 10(4) 389–398
ªThe Author(s) 2019
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DOI: 10.1177/2032284419879232
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