Considerations On The European Arrest Warrant

In this article we proposed to analyze the institution and also the procedure of the European Arrest Warrant, both regulated by the Council of European Union Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA of June 13th 2002. This instrument has been conceived in order o replace the existent and old extradition system of the member states, requiring that each national judicial authority with an executory role recognize the surrender request of another member state. In the first part we present the context in which the framework decision was adopted, focusing on the fact that the idea of an European Arrest warrant is based on the European Union s objective to create an unique space of freedom, security and justice, and for that purpose, the institution of the extradition, as a form of cooperation, was too slow and complex, so that it had proved to be inefficient in the actual context of social development. We also analyze if the warrant is a new form of cooperation or another form of the extradition system and also the elements of novelty brought by the warrant, such as the principle of reciprocical recognition, the judicial character of the procedure, the reason for the refusal of execution. In the last part we present the Romanian legal approach by the Law no.302/2004, concerning the international judicial cooperation in criminal matters.