The High Court has ordered Cristian Nicola’s surrender to Germany to face prosecution for 61 alleged offences, after dismissing his objections to the European arrest warrant. The court did not decide whether time he spent in custody in Northern Ireland must be deducted from any future German sentence.
In a judgment delivered on 25 June 2020, Mr Justice Paul Burns found that additional information from German authorities met the warrant’s requirements and that the alleged conduct corresponded to offences under Irish law, including theft, burglary and criminal damage. Correspondence between offences was not seriously disputed at the hearing.
Nicola argued that the warrant sought his return for investigative custody, rather than prosecution. The court accepted that the warrant referred to “investigative custody”, but relied on a statement from a senior Saxony prosecutor that Germany intended to bring full charges and could not proceed until Nicola had been interviewed. The judge found that the statutory presumption of a decision to charge and try him had not been rebutted.
Nicola also argued that he should receive credit for detention in Northern Ireland, or that Germany should confirm in advance that it would count that time. An earlier German warrant had been considered there; the Belfast court discharged that extradition matter after hearing counsel. The High Court was told the discharge was not based on the merits of the extradition request and that the warrant before the Irish court was a different warrant.
Evidence from Nicola’s former Northern Ireland solicitor said he had been remanded in custody on the German warrant from 31 October 2018 until 25 January 2019. The solicitor expressed the opinion that, after a domestic burglary charge was withdrawn, the entire period was attributable to the German warrant. The High Court did not determine whether that period qualified for deduction.
Under article 26 of the European arrest warrant framework, the issuing state must deduct qualifying detention and the executing state must transmit information about its duration. The judge said any dispute about whether the Northern Ireland period must be counted should be raised in Germany. The court would send Germany detention information from Ireland, along with the two affidavits and exhibits, but expressly gave no opinion on whether the Northern Ireland detention was deductible.
The court dismissed Nicola’s objections, found no prohibition on surrender under the cited provisions of the European Arrest Warrant Act 2003, and ordered his surrender to Germany under section 16. The judgment does not establish whether Nicola was subsequently prosecuted or convicted.