Stefano Melloni

The surrender of a person to the judicial authorities of another Member State pursuant to a European arrest warrant cannot be made subject to the possibility of judicial review of the conviction handed down in absentia.

The Framework Decision on the European arrest warrant reflects the consensus reached by all the Member States regarding the scope of the procedural rights enjoyed by persons convicted in absentia who are the subject of a European arrest warrant.

The request for preliminary ruling was issued by the Tribunal Constitucional (Spain), and raises questions regarding primacy of EU law over national constitutional law.