Halil Ibrahim Özçelik

The Halil Ibrahim Özçelik case is part of a trilogy of cases decided in the same week with Krzystof Marek Poltorak and Ruslanas Kovalkovas case about the extent of what a ‘judicial authority’ is in the proceedings relating to the execution of a European Arrest Warrant.

The rechtbank Amsterdam (District Court, Amsterdam) submitted the following questions to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling:
‘(1) Is the expression “judicial decision”, within the meaning of Article 8(1)(c) of [the] Framework Decision ..., a term of EU law which must be given an autonomous and uniform interpretation?
(2) If so, what is the meaning of that term?
(3) Does the confirmation, as in the present case, by a member of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of a national arrest warrant previously issued by the police constitute such a “judicial decision”?’

The Court ruled that Article 8(1)(c) of the Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA of 13 June 2002 on the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between Member States, as amended by Council Framework Decision 2009/299/JHA of 26 February 2009, must be interpreted as meaning that a confirmation, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, by the public prosecutor’s office, of a national arrest warrant issued previously by a police service in connection with criminal proceedings constitutes a ‘judicial decision’, within the meaning of that provision.

The concept is therefore extented to include Member State authorities that administer criminal justice such as Hungarian prosecutors.