THE EUROPEAN ARREST WARRANT AND THE ROLE OF PUBLIC PROSECUTORS.

The European Arrest Warrant (EAW) is one of the most used mechanisms in judicial cooperation in criminal matters. It consists of simplified procedure for cross-border surrender for purposes of prosecution or executing a prison sentence or detention order, thus replacing the traditional system on cooperation including the political authorities of member-states. The paper aims to explain the role of Public Prosecutors in the procedure of issuing the EAW through the practice of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The paper deals with two parts: first, it elaborates case law by which the Court secured additional clarification of the long-standing question regarding the definition of ―judicial authority‖ responsible for issuing the EAW and second, it elaborates the jurisdiction of public prosecutors in member-states in their capacity to issue the EAW. Both parts explain court cases and judgements brought upon. The first part covers court rulings relating to the relationship between the EAW and the National Arrest Warrant (NAW), which establishes the existence of an NAW at the time of issuing the EAW. After establishing such a relationship, the paper proceeds to define the term "judicial authority", although it is up to the member-states to determine the competent authorities under their domestic law. However, involving bodies of several member-states, the Court in its judgments defines some of them as competent authorities for the issuance of the EAW, while other bodies the Court does not accept as competent for the issuance of the EAW. The latter cases relate to the central part of the papers, with cases involving public prosecutors and their role in domestic systems as a "judicial authority" authorized to issue an EAW under the Framework Decision of the European Arrest Warrant (FDEAW). The degree of independence of public prosecutors and their relationship with the political authorities, especially the relationship with the executive and the possibility for the public prosecutor to receive guidance and instructions in the decision to issue the EAW, is elaborated. With these judgment, the CJEU further develops its jurisprudence regarding the functioning of the EAW in the criminal justice area. The conclusion explains the impact of these judgments in national law of member-states, as well as on the whole area of criminal justice in the EU, implying the need of evaluation and possible reform of criminal justice organization in certain member-states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]