In this article I want to explain to you how we obtained a favorable decision for one of our clients for a European arrest warrant which, in this specific case, was issued by Romania: our goal was to serve our client’s sentence in Italy.
First of all, if you are also in the same situation – that is, you have been hit by an international arrest warrant or a European arrest warrant – you can contact our law firm of international criminal lawyers; we have dealt with several such cases and have often solved them, obtaining the great satisfaction of our customers.
Read here the article on “European arrest warrant: What to do in case of arrest?”.
So, if you want to know how we solved the problem of our client, arrested for committing crimes abroad, I suggest you read this article carefully.
Indice dei contenuti
Why was our client arrested?
The man was arrested because he had committed various crimes in Romania: in particular he had been guilty of several incidents of driving without a license and for a large tax evasion.
He had been tried in Romania and had received a prison sentence of 3 years and 5 months.
After the sentencing, the Romanian law enforcement agencies carried out the international arrest warrant of our client in order to arrest him and take him to prison in one of the Romanian prisons.
Well, the man was no longer present in Romania, having in fact been residing in Italy for some time and, precisely because he was not found on the territory of that State, the European arrest warrant was issued in order to trace our client throughout the continental territory.
If you do not know what the European arrest warrant is, I invite you to read the dedicated article by clicking here, so that you can get more information on the whole law that provides for the European arrest warrant.
The arrest of our client
Once the European arrest order was issued, the man was tracked down in Italy (specifically in Rome) and was therefore arrested by the Italian Police Forces.
After the arrest, the procedure on the EAW (European Arrest Warrant) provides for the so-called hearing to validate the arrest in order to verify whether the arrest was legitimately carried out and if all the rights of the person were respected.
Thus began the procedure in Italy (before the Court of Appeal of the place where the arrested person was arrested) in order to establish whether – by virtue of the European arrest warrant – the man should be handed over to the Romanian authorities for the ‘execution (in Romania) of the sentence of 3 years and five months of imprisonment for driving without a license and tax evasion.
Very often, for the entire duration of the procedure concerning the decision on surrender to the foreign State, the person remains in prison or, for example, under house arrest. This is in order to avoid the danger that the person could escape during the procedure and therefore remain unpunished.
In our case, however, we were also able to have our client released immediately, demonstrating that there was no danger of escape.
What happens after the validation hearing?
Once the release of our client has been obtained after the validation hearing, the procedure certainly does not stop, as it is necessary to establish – as I anticipated before – whether or not the arrested person will have to be handed over to the Romanian authorities to serve the sentence to which he was sentenced in Romania.
So, together with our client, we decided on our defense strategy: our only goal was to avoid delivery to Romania and, this, for some simple reasons that I will now explain to you.
Our client has lived in Italy for years: here he has all his family and his work. Going to Romania to serve a sentence of 3 years and 5 months of imprisonment would have meant interrupting all the relationships and ties built over the years in our territory, as well as having to abandon his family.
The man knows that he was wrong and that it is right that he pay his debt with justice but, at the same time, he did not want to abandon his family and so we had to find a solution that could reassure him.
And the solution, to his great satisfaction, has been found!
Which? Continue reading the article so I’ll explain how we solved the big problem that afflicted our client.
Our defense strategy: how did we solve our client’s case?
The defense strategy was to find a way to serve in Italy the sentence to which our client had been sentenced for the crimes committed in Romania and, this, in order to avoid delivery in his country of origin and abandon the own family.
And then, after an incessant study of the case, we were able to find the solution that would have allowed us to avoid delivery !!!
We have therefore collected a series of documents and testimonies aimed at demonstrating that our client certainly had to serve his sentence, but he could also have done so in Italy thanks to the law that provides for the recognition in Italy of foreign sentences.
What does the law provide in these cases?
There were two legal provisions that we used in order to get the result so much hoped for by our client: the first step was to have the delivery refused and, the next one, to ensure that our client could serve the sentence. in Italy and not leave his family.
The two laws necessarily had to be applied together.
Let’s proceed in order.
The first rule is that provided for by art. 18 bis paragraph 2 of Law no. 69 of 2005 on the European arrest warrant.
According to the provisions of the aforementioned article,
When the European arrest warrant has been issued for the purpose of executing a sentence or a security measure depriving personal liberty, the court of appeal may refuse the surrender of the requested person who is an Italian citizen or a citizen of another Member State of the European Union legitimately and effectively residing or abiding in Italian territory for at least five years, provided that it provides that this penalty or security measure is carried out in Italy in accordance with its internal law.
And then, as mentioned above, our firm collected numerous documents to prove to the Court of Appeal that our client:
- is a subject permanently resident in Italy;
- his whole family is here in Italy;
- he works in Italy;
- he no longer has any connection or relationship with his country of origin.
It would have made no sense whatsoever to make him serve his sentence in Romania and, since the law provides for the possibility of refusing the surrender of the arrested person so that the same can – through recognition of the conviction decision – serve the sentence in the country where he ‘actually’ resides, we did not hesitate to pursue this defensive thesis.
Therefore, connected to art. 18bis paragraph 2 of Law 69 of 2005, is Legislative Decree 161 of 2010 on the subject of recognition in Italy of sentences issued abroad.
This second law, in fact, provides that penalties suffered abroad can be recognized and served in Italy according to our national legislation: in fact, once the foreign sentence is recognized, the sentence suffered with it, behaves in all respects as if it was a penalty suffered for a crime committed in Italy.
You can therefore access the penitentiary benefits and alternative measures to detention (if you don’t know what they are, I suggest you read the dedicated article on our website here).
So, was our defense thesis accepted by the Rome Court of Appeal? I tell you in the following paragraph.
What was the Court’s decision?
After an incessant study of the case of our client, the production of many documents to support our thesis, the Court of Appeal of Rome has come to agree with us completely!!!
Here is the demonstration
The judges of the Court of Appeal decided precisely on the basis of the legislation we have mentioned.
Thanks to our decisive contribution we were able to obtain a great result as well as the satisfaction of our customer who, for no reason in the world, would have wanted to leave his family in Italy to serve the sentence in Romania that he had suffered for driving without a license and tax evasion.
I am attaching below the part of the decision that accepted all our requests.
The Court of Appeal therefore decided – as requested by us – to:
- REFUSE DELIVERY REQUESTED BY ROMANIA;
- ORDER THE EXECUTION OF THE PENALTY IN ITALY;
- REVOKE THE PRECAUTIONARY MEASURE OF THE OBLIGATION TO PRESENT TO THE POLICE TO WHICH OUR CUSTOMER HAD BEEN SUBJECTED AFTER WE GOT HIM OUT OF PRISON.
The degree of satisfaction of our client was maximum: the news of being able to stay in Italy, not to leave his family and his job was one of the most beautiful of his life and our hearts were filled with pride.
Furthermore, it is not certain that our client will have to suffer his sentence in prison: in fact, as I mentioned earlier, it is possible that he will be granted an alternative measure to detention and, therefore, avoid prison.
Why go to an experienced European arrest warrant lawyer?
As you may have understood, the one dealt with is a complex, delicate matter that requires particular and specific professional skills that not all lawyers possess.
It is always advisable, therefore, to rely on a competent European Arrest Warrant Lawyer, expert in this matter, who knows the legal matter well, so that, right away, there is the maximum guarantee of the right of defense, arranging the strategy defense more appropriate to the specific case.
We have dealt with and solved several cases on the subject of international arrest warrants
Read our other articles on this topic:
- Extradition and European Arrest Warrant (EAW) in Italy
- Lawyer for extradition to Belgium and European arrest warrant (EAW)
- Extradition in Italy: cannot be granted in case of risk of violation of human rights
- Italian Lawyer for Extradition Cases. Italian International Law Firm
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