Successione di leggi nel tempo e consegna del ricercato: i requisiti per la consegna si valutano secondo la legge applicata ai fatti

The article analyses the judgment given by the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) on 3rd March (case “X”), which focuses on the interpretation of Article 2(2) of Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA on the European arrest warrant (EAW). In particular, the referring judge (Court of Appeal of Ghent, Belgium) asked the Court to ascertain whether the threshold imposed by Article 2(2) – in order to surrender a person already convicted by a Spanish Court – refers to the version of the law applicable to the facts giving rise to the case in which the EAW was issued or to the law in force at the date of issue of the EAW. In the case, X had been convicted for a fact (apology of terrorism) that the Spanish Criminal Code originally punished with a maximum penalty of two years of detention, but, at the time when EAW was issued, this threshold was different (three years), due to an amendment adopted between the date of the acts and the date of issue. The judgment – and the Opinion given by the Advocate general Bobek – allows some considerations, not only about the functioning of EAW and the requisites which must be met in order to survive the convicted person, but also about the principle of legal certainty, especially dealing with mechanisms of judicial cooperation in criminal matters.