EXTRADITION AND THE EUROPEAN ARREST WARRANT
The globalisation of economic relations and the growing international judicial cooperation have placed extradition proceedings and the European Arrest Warrant among the most complex and sensitive issues in contemporary criminal law. When an individual —whether in a personal capacity or as a corporate officer— is sought by the authorities of another State, they face a scenario in which different legal systems, peremptory time limits, fundamental rights and consequences that may immediately affect their personal freedom, reputation and professional or business activity all converge.
Passive extradition proceedings in Spain are governed by Law 4/1985 of 21 March on Passive Extradition, the application of which is shaped in each case by the bilateral or multilateral treaty in force between Spain and the requesting State. From the European Convention on Extradition of 1957 and its Additional Protocols to the specific agreements concluded with States in Latin America, North America or Asia, the content of those treaties varies substantially in aspects that are decisive for the defence of the person sought. The catalogue of extraditable offences, the grounds for refusal, the guarantees required from the requesting State and the conditions of surrender differ from one treaty to another, so that each extradition procedure demands a precise identification of the applicable instrument and the avenues of opposition it affords. In addition, it is necessary to assess whether the legal system of the requesting State offers guarantees equivalent to those of the Spanish system in the area of fundamental rights, in particular the prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment, the right to a fair trial, the rule of speciality and the prohibition of re-extradition to a third State.
The European Arrest Warrant is based on a different legal rationale. Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA, transposed into Spanish law by Law 23/2014 of 20 November on the mutual recognition of criminal decisions within the European Union, established a system founded on the principle of mutual recognition and the abolition of the double criminality requirement for a defined list of offences. The execution of a European Arrest Warrant operates within shorter time limits and on the basis of exhaustively listed grounds for refusal, which gives the defence a specific framework, distinct from that of classical extradition, in which arguments relating to fundamental rights and the conditions of enforcement of the sentence in the issuing State acquire particular significance.
Both types of proceedings are heard before the Audiencia Nacional, the court with jurisdiction in Spain. A rigorous knowledge of the Criminal Chamber, its case law and the procedural practice followed before it is essential to mount an effective defence through either of these two channels.
SPECIALISATION AS AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT OF THE DEFENSE
The defence in passive extradition proceedings or in the execution of a European Arrest Warrant unfolds within strict procedural limits. These are complex proceedings in which few law firms in Spain possess genuine and sustained specialisation. From the moment of arrest —whether pursuant to an Interpol red notice or an alert entered in the Schengen Information System—, the statutory time limits for the judicial hearing, the appearance before the Central Investigating Court and the subsequent hearing before the Criminal Chamber of the Audiencia Nacional follow one another at a pace that demands immediate and technically precise legal representation. Every decision taken in those first hours and days —the application for provisional release, the strategy to oppose surrender, the invocation of specific grounds for refusal under the applicable treaty or instrument, or the submission of evidence regarding the conditions of the prison or judicial system of the requesting State— may irreversibly shape the outcome of the proceedings.
To this must be added the need to deal simultaneously with the foreign legal system of the State requesting surrender. Identifying the criminal offence on which the extradition request is based, verifying whether double criminality is met under Spanish law, assessing the proportionality of the applicable sentence and, where appropriate, demonstrating that surrender would entail a violation of fundamental rights in light of the actual conditions of trial or enforcement in that State. The experience accumulated in handling these matters before the Audiencia Nacional provides insight not only into the case law established by the Criminal Chamber but also into the practical particularities of the proceedings. The actual processing times and procedural dynamics are aspects that can only be mastered through direct and sustained practice before this court.
A TEAM EQUAL TO THE GRAVITY OCASE OF THE CASE
Lopezmarques has a criminal law team with direct and sustained experience before the Audiencia Nacional in passive extradition proceedings and in the execution of European Arrest Warrants. Legal assistance is provided from the moment of arrest and covers every stage of the proceedings —analysis of the applicable instrument, design of the opposition strategy, preparation of the hearing before the Criminal Chamber and, where appropriate, the filing of appeals, including constitutional protection proceedings (recurso de amparo)—, as well as direct coordination with the law firms handling the defence in the criminal proceedings from which the extradition request or European Arrest Warrant originates, so that both strategies follow a single procedural rationale. At all times, the client is kept informed of the status of their case, the possible scenarios and the available defence options.
The practice is led by Luis Martínez de Salinas, who served on the Criminal Chamber of the Audiencia Nacional (1997–2007) and acted as reporting judge in several landmark decisions on extradition and international judicial cooperation, including the Pinochet case in 1999 and, in 2004, the first Spanish decision granting a European Arrest Warrant.
