WELCOME
This is the web based version of the EAW Handbook:
HOW TO DEFEND A EUROPEAN ARREST WARRANT CASE
ECBA Handbook On The Eaw For Defence Lawyers
PART I
UNDERSTANDING THE EAW FRAMEWORK DECISION
Available now!
We also provide this EAW Handbook as a PDF version, suitable for printing purposes and offline use.
ABOUT THE ECBA
Since its foundation in 1997 the European Criminal Bar Association (ECBA) has become the pre-eminent independent organisation of specialist defence lawyers in all Council of Europe countries. Membership is composed of individual practitioners from over 40 different European countries including all 28 EU Member States and national defence associations as collective members.
The ECBA aims to promote the fundamental rights of persons under investigation, suspects, accused and convicted persons.
ECBA activities include:
- Organising two conferences a year to present and discuss current issues relevant to criminal law in Europe and meet lawyers from other Council of Europe states
- Providing a forum for exchange of criminal defence information on matters of practical importance
- Establishing a network of contacts to provide mutual assistance for defence practitioners and providing a platform for lawyers and for members of the public to assist them to locate defence practitioners in Europe
- Projects and working groups on criminal law and defence practise
- Training courses for defence practitioners (jointly with ERA)
- Submissions and statements to the EU legislative institutions and participation in many expert hearings at EU level
- A sub-association European Fraud and Compliance Lawyers: efcl.eu
For further information, please see the ECBA’s website, www.ecba.org.
ABOUT JUSTICE
Established in 1957 by a group of leading jurists, JUSTICE is an all-party law reform and human rights organisation working to strengthen the justice system – administrative, civil and criminal – in the United Kingdom.
We are a membership organisation, composed largely of legal professionals, ranging from law students to the senior judiciary. For further information, please see JUSTICE’s website, https://justice.org.uk/.
The report concludes that, without these changes, safeguards intended to provide an effective defence will continue to fail – leaving the rights of individuals subject to an EAW inadequately protected.
Click the image to download the report
This joint ECBA, JUSTICE and ICJ report published in 2012, and part funded by the European Commission, was the culmination of a two year study reviewing defence of EAWs in practice in ten EU member states. It raised concerns about the absence of effective procedural safeguards for requested persons and made five key recommendations:
- Provision of training for defence lawyers;
- Availability of dual representation in both Executing and Issuing States;
- A peer reviewed database through which Issuing State lawyers may be accessed;
- Updates to the Schengen Information System, to remove inappropriate alerts;
- Provision of legal interpretation and translation for EAW proceedings.