The High Court has ordered the surrender of a woman to Poland for prosecution over four alleged offences involving leased vehicles and transport services.
In a judgment delivered on 11 May 2023, Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo made the order under section 16 of the European Arrest Warrant Act 2003. The warrant, dated 27 October 2022, seeks her surrender to face prosecution in Poland. The court found that the person before it was the person named in the warrant; that identification was not disputed.
The first three allegations concerned vehicle lease agreements. The warrant alleged that the woman stopped payments on a BMW and a trailer, then did not return them after the lessor terminated the agreements and demanded their return. The trailer was recovered from a third party in June 2020. The judge found that the alleged conduct in the first three offences corresponded to theft under Irish law.
The fourth allegation concerned a contract for transport services entered into on 29 October 2018. The warrant alleged that the woman knew she could not pay when she agreed to the service, which was provided on the understanding that payment would follow. The judge accepted the applicant’s submission that, if those alleged acts occurred in Ireland, they would meet the elements of obtaining services by deception. He stressed that the court did not need to decide whether the allegation was true.
The respondent challenged the detail in the warrant and its correspondence with Irish offences. The judge found the warrant and additional information gave sufficient detail about the alleged offences, including their timeframes, locations and subject matter, for her to understand and challenge the surrender application. He also found the minimum gravity threshold was met. An objection under section 21A was not pursued at the hearing, and the court found no statutory bar to surrender.
The respondent also relied on her medical and family circumstances, including treatment for several health conditions, in arguing that surrender would breach her rights. The judge found that assurances from Polish authorities addressed concerns about medical assessment and care in detention. He concluded that the circumstances had not been shown to be truly exceptional so as to engage the possibility that surrender would be incompatible with Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The court therefore did not conduct a proportionality assessment.
A separate objection alleging systemic deficiencies in Poland’s justice system and prisons was no longer pursued. The order is for surrender to face prosecution; the High Court did not determine guilt.