International and European criminal law

Are you the subject of an extradition request, a European Arrest Warrant or an INTERPOL red notice? These procedures can have serious consequences for your liberty, your movements and your personal or professional situation. The firm acts in extradition proceedings, in the execution of European Arrest Warrants and in challenges to INTERPOL red notices, defending requested persons at every stage, in France and in matters with an international dimension, as well as in the remedies that may be brought before the competent courts and bodies.

Extradition: challenging surrender to a foreign State

Extradition is a procedure by which one State surrenders a person to another State that is seeking them in order to prosecute or to enforce a sentence, under the applicable rules.

The firm assists people who are the subject of an extradition request at every stage, in particular:

• from arrest and notification of the request;
• in decisions on detention within the extradition procedure or on applicable supervision measures;
• at hearings before the investigating chamber;
• in reviewing the judicial remedies available against decisions taken in the proceedings;
• where the conditions are met, in steps based on the protection of fundamental rights, in particular before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

The analysis addresses the regularity of the procedure, the legal conditions for extradition and any obstacles to surrender. It may involve examining alleged risks of torture or inhuman or degrading treatment, fair-trial guarantees and detention conditions in the requesting State.

The arguments that may be raised depend on the circumstances of the case, the applicable conventions and the evidence supporting the alleged risks.

European Arrest Warrant: challenging its execution

The European Arrest Warrant (EAW) is a judicial decision issued by an EU Member State for the arrest and surrender of a person by another Member State, for the purposes of prosecution or the enforcement of a custodial sentence or detention order.

Unlike extradition with a third State, the EAW rests on a mechanism of mutual recognition between the judicial authorities of the Member States. It is governed in particular by Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA of 13 June 2002, transposed into French law in the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The firm acts in EAW proceedings, in particular where the requested person is arrested in France at the request of another Member State or where a warrant has been issued by the French authorities. This may involve:

• examining the conditions for issuing and executing the warrant;
• assistance when the person is brought before the investigating chamber;
• analysing the procedural guarantees and the rights of the requested person;
• identifying grounds for refusing surrender that may be relied on;
• examining questions raised by EU law and the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).

INTERPOL red notice: access, correction or deletion of data

An INTERPOL red notice is an international alert circulated at the request of a member country to locate a wanted person and seek their provisional arrest with a view to extradition, surrender or a similar measure. It is based on an arrest warrant or a judicial decision issued in the requesting State.

A red notice is not, in itself, an international arrest warrant. It does not automatically oblige States to make an arrest: national authorities apply their own law to decide what action to take.

The firm assists people wishing to challenge the processing of their data in INTERPOL's information system, in particular through a request to the Commission for the Control of INTERPOL's Files (CCF). Depending on the situation, the request may seek access to the data, their correction or their deletion. Deletion of a notice or data is not automatic: it depends on the review carried out by the competent body.

International remedies and the protection of fundamental rights

Extradition or surrender proceedings may raise questions about respect for the fundamental rights of the requested person. Depending on the circumstances, the available remedies may require examining the guarantees under the European Convention on Human Rights and the possibilities of recourse before the competent courts.

In exceptional circumstances, where there is an imminent risk of irreparable harm to a right protected by the Convention, a request for an interim measure may be considered before the ECtHR under Rule 39 of its Rules of Court. This urgent procedure is subject to strict conditions and is not an automatic remedy against any extradition.

Recourse before the ECtHR, the CJEU and the UN committees

A decision by a French court does not necessarily exhaust every avenue of recourse. In certain situations, remedies may be considered before the European courts or the UN treaty bodies, in particular where extradition or EAW proceedings raise a question about respect for fundamental rights.

Before the ECtHR, an individual application may be considered subject to the admissibility conditions, in particular the exhaustion of domestic remedies and the four-month time limit from the final relevant domestic decision.

Where a situation raises a question about a Member State's breach of EU law, a complaint may, under certain conditions, be sent to the European Commission, and a question on the interpretation or validity of EU law may be referred to the CJEU by a national court for a preliminary ruling.

Certain UN treaty bodies, in particular the Human Rights Committee and the Committee against Torture, may examine individual communications alleging a violation of the rights guaranteed by the treaties within their competence.