EU court says Belgium must enforce prison sentences if extradition is refused
Belgium must make every effort to enforce prison sentences itself when it refuses to extradite wanted persons because of unacceptable detention conditions in another EU member state. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued that ruling in response to a preliminary question from the Belgian Court of Cassation.
The case concerns two recent decisions by Belgian courts refusing to execute European arrest warrants issued by Romanian and Greek judicial authorities. The warrants concerned a Romanian national and a Belgian national, both residing in Belgium and wanted to serve prison sentences in their respective countries.
Belgian courts concluded that extradition would expose the individuals to a risk of inhuman or degrading treatment because of prison conditions in Romania and Greece.
Preventing impunity
The Court of Cassation subsequently asked whether Belgian authorities could or should enforce the sentences themselves to prevent the convicted persons from escaping punishment.
The EU court ruled that Belgium must "actively strive to ensure that the person sought does not go unpunished through refusal". According to the judgment, this obligation stems from the need to safeguard security and judicial cooperation within the European Union.
Sentence to be served in Belgium
In practical terms, Belgian authorities must, on their own initiative, ask the issuing judicial authorities to transmit the judgment on which the arrest warrant is based and take the necessary steps to have the sentence served in Belgium.
The court also recalled that, as a general rule, a convicted person must consent to serving a prison sentence in another EU member state. An exception applies, however, if it appears that the person left the country where they were convicted in order to evade their sentence.
© PHOTO NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP
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