The High Court has ordered Marian Cantea’s surrender to Italy under three European Arrest Warrants, while refusing surrender under two others.
In a judgment delivered on 8 November 2024, Mr Justice Patrick McGrath ordered surrender under warrants 1, 2 and 4. He refused surrender under warrant 5 because the court could not conclude that Cantea’s rights of defence had been upheld at the trial, and refused surrender under warrant 3 because he had already served the sentence imposed in that case and would not have any of it left to serve.
The five warrants seek enforcement of an aggregate custodial sentence of five years and 11 months. The judgment said four years, 10 months and 17 days remained to be served. Cantea was arrested in Ireland on 25 October 2023 and remained in custody during the proceedings.
Cantea objected that the warrants lacked sufficient detail and did not provide effective judicial protection. The judge rejected both arguments. He found the warrants and additional information sufficient, and said the underlying convictions and sentences followed judicial proceedings that provided the required safeguards.
The court also considered whether surrender was barred because Cantea had been tried in his absence. For warrant 2, the judge found that Cantea had been told to keep his declared address updated and that proceedings could continue in his absence. He concluded that Cantea had made an informed choice to avoid service and had waived his right to attend. For warrant 4, the judge found that Cantea had attended an earlier hearing, was represented during the case and knew later hearings could proceed without him. He rejected the objections to surrender under both warrants.
Warrant 5 concerned a conviction after a trial at which Cantea had not appeared. The judgment said he had not been arrested, questioned or involved in the preliminary investigation, and the evidence did not show that he knew about the proceedings or waived his right to attend. It also found he had no automatic right to a retrial or qualifying appeal in Italy. The judge therefore refused surrender on that warrant.
Warrant 3 concerned a one-year sentence imposed by the Court of Pordenone. Information from Italian authorities showed that Cantea had served a year in pre-trial custody in connection with that judgment. The judge held that, because no part of the sentence remained to be served, the statutory minimum requirement for surrender was not met.
The orders resolve the surrender applications on the five warrants: surrender was ordered on three and refused on two.