The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by Andrius Sciuka against a High Court order postponing his surrender to Lithuania to serve the remainder of a prison sentence. The court held that the pandemic-related cancellation of flights from Ireland to Germany could support a postponement on humanitarian grounds under section 18 of the European Arrest Warrant Act 2003.
The High Court had ordered on 18 January 2021 that Sciuka be surrendered under a European Arrest Warrant issued in February 2017. On 10 February, it postponed surrender after receiving a request from the Lithuanian issuing judicial authority. That request relayed information from the Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau that Germany had cancelled flights from Ireland and the UK because of the spread of COVID-19, preventing Lithuania from arranging the transfer. The letter said there was no possibility of taking him over before 19 February and asked to extend the deadline to 1 April.
The appellant argued that the evidence did not establish humanitarian grounds, and that the issue was flight availability rather than a humanitarian situation. He submitted that the request should instead have been addressed under the statutory provision for delays caused by circumstances beyond a state’s control, and challenged whether the evidence met that provision’s requirements. The Minister argued that the pandemic and resulting travel restrictions were serious humanitarian circumstances.
The Court of Appeal said the pandemic could constitute a humanitarian ground under section 18, including where its effects extend beyond a direct health risk to the person being surrendered. It also found that section 16’s delay mechanism could not be used on the evidence because the judicial authorities had not agreed a definitive new surrender date.
The court concluded that the issuing authority’s letter established that the flight cancellations, imposed for public-health reasons, left no possibility of arranging surrender within the timeframe. It rejected the appellant’s suggested alternatives, including military or private flights, finding no evidence that Lithuania could arrange such a transfer. The High Court had limited its postponement to 26 March, rather than the requested 1 April, and allowed either side to apply if an earlier surrender became possible. The Court of Appeal found the law had been correctly applied and the postponement period proportionate, and dismissed the appeal. It also confirmed a recommendation that Sciuka receive legal aid for a solicitor and two counsel.