The Supreme Court has dismissed Petronel Pal’s appeal against his surrender to Romania on an aggravated murder charge, holding that section 44 of the European Arrest Warrant Act 2003 did not prevent surrender in this case.
The judgment, delivered by Chief Justice O’Donnell on 28 February 2022, concerned an allegation that Mr Pal was among a group of Romanian citizens who attacked Virgil Busa at his apartment in Navan on 10 April 2014. Mr Busa died three days later. These are allegations set out in the judgment, not findings of guilt.
Romania sought Mr Pal’s surrender on four charges. The High Court permitted surrender on aggravated murder and membership of a criminal group formed to commit murder, but refused it on attempted murder and aggravated robbery. Only the aggravated murder charge remained in dispute before the Supreme Court. The High Court’s refusal on the other charges was not challenged in this appeal.
Mr Pal argued that section 44 barred surrender because Ireland would not prosecute a Romanian citizen for murder committed in Romania. He also asked the Supreme Court to refer questions about the interpretation of section 44 and the corresponding provision of EU law to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
The Supreme Court rejected the argument. It examined earlier interpretations of section 44 and concluded that, even under the narrower approaches discussed in those decisions, surrender was permitted: both Romania and Ireland exercise extra-territorial jurisdiction for murder based on the alleged offender’s citizenship. The Court said the appellant’s proposed approach, which would transpose the location of the alleged offence but not other relevant circumstances, could not reasonably be read into the legislation or the EU provision.
The Court also considered the purpose of the provision: to allow refusal where a surrender request relies on an extra-territorial jurisdiction Ireland does not recognise or regards as excessive. It said the allegation here involved a Romanian national accused of murder outside Romania, a form of jurisdiction Ireland itself exercises. The Court therefore found no need to refer the questions to the CJEU and dismissed the appeal. The ruling resolves the surrender appeal; it does not determine Mr Pal’s guilt on the Romanian charge.