European Arrest Warrant (EAW) is an arrest warrant valid in all member states of the European Union (EU). The legislation on the European Arrest Warrant provides for extradition within 90 days from the date of arrest or within 10 days if the detained person agrees to the extradition.
An EAW may only be issued for criminal prosecution (but not for investigative purposes), or for the purpose of securing punishment with imprisonment. EAW can only be issued for crimes involving a maximum sentence of imprisonment of 12 months or more. If the sentence has been partially served, EAW may only be issued if the convicted person is left to serve at least four months before the end of the sentence.
The introduction of the EAW system was designed to increase the speed and ease of extradition among EU member states by removing the political and administrative decision-making phases that were characteristic of the previous extradition system in Europe. Under the EAW system, the entire process is exclusively in the jurisdiction of the judicial system of the EU member states. Since 2004, EU countries have begun to use EAW more frequently. According to the estimates of the EU Member States, the number of issued under the EAW has increased from approximately 3,000 in 2004 to 13,500 in 2008.
See also
- Europol