In a judgment delivered on 3 January 2024 by the Court of Appeal of Iceland (Landsréttur) in Case 875/2023, Ákæruvaldið v X, it determined that a person residing in Iceland, who is the subject of a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) in Poland, does not necessarily conflict with their individual rights under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Polish authorities submitted a EAW on 1 August 2023 in order for a resident of Iceland to serve a sentence in Poland, relating to a sentence received by that person in 2005. In November 2023, the person was arrested, and the state made a decision to extradite the person to Poland. The person had lived and worked in Iceland since 2008.
In his appeal against his extradition, he argued that prison conditions in Poland, his age, and his health problems ought to prevent his extradition. Yet the Court of Appeal ruled that nothing in the case file gave rise to grounds that amounted to the threshold needed for his extradition to be prevented. Consequently, the state’s decision to extradite the individual court proceed.
Given the EAW is outside the scope of the EEA Agreement, but yet Iceland is a part of it, it can be technically seen as a case whereby the EFTA Court is unable to receive a request for an advisory opinion. And naturally, given that Iceland is not an EU Member State, it cannot make a reference for a preliminary ruling to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) either. Therefore, it is only national courts in Iceland that are able to make determinations, without any interpretative body being charged with ensuring the consistency of the application of the EAW in Iceland vis-à-vis national courts in the other EFTA-EEA state applying the EAW like Norway.
This is concerning, particular given that in the case at hand, no CJEU authority was cited to support the Icelandic court’s reasoning. It should be considered, as a matter of urgency, that the EFTA Court be granted with the explicit jurisdiction to hear requests for an advisory opinion on EAW matters, as well as other matters where Iceland is part of European legal measures.
The judgment by the Court of Appeal of Iceland (Landsréttur) in Case 875/2023, Ákæruvaldið v X can be read here.