The Supreme Court has dismissed appeals by three men challenging the constitutionality of the European Arrest Warrant Act 2003. The appeals concerned orders made by the High Court directing their surrender under the Act. The Supreme Court’s decision leaves those orders in place; the judgment addressed the constitutional challenge to the Act, not the underlying warrant proceedings.
The appellants argued that the State had not obtained the prior approval of both Houses of the Oireachtas required by Article 29.4.6 of the Constitution before participating in the adoption of the EU Framework Decision on the European arrest warrant. They said the draft approved by the Houses in December 2001 differed materially from the Framework Decision adopted in June 2002.
The court held that the Constitution did not require the Houses to approve the exact final text in advance. Their resolutions approved the State’s participation in adopting a Framework Decision, a process in which changes through negotiation were expected. The court also said that participation without the required prior approval would breach a mandatory constitutional requirement, and legislation implementing such action would be invalid.
The judgment considered three changes raised by the appellants: the wording of an offence concerning motor vehicles, extending the currency counterfeiting category beyond the euro, and the express application of the Framework Decision to Gibraltar. It found these changes did not amount to a significant departure from the approved draft. The court said the extension concerning currency affected the double-criminality requirement for offences already within the Framework Decision’s scope. It also rejected the suggestion that including Gibraltar implied possible extension to countries worldwide.
The court held that it was primarily for the Oireachtas to assess whether an adopted measure remained within the authority granted by its prior approval. Applying the “clear disregard” standard for judicial intervention in parliamentary functions, it found no basis to conclude that the Oireachtas had acted in clear disregard of Article 29.4.6. It concluded that the constitutional challenge was not well founded and dismissed the appeals.