The High Court has asked the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to clarify the legal test to apply before it makes a final decision on whether Artur Celmer should be surrendered to Poland to face prosecution under three European Arrest Warrants.
In a judgment delivered on 12 March 2018, Ms Justice Donnelly found that changes to Poland’s judicial system had breached the common EU values of the rule of law and democracy. She said the evidence showed systemic defects in the Polish justice system and raised a real risk of an unfair trial for Mr Celmer.
The judge concluded that the evidence from a European Commission proposal and opinions of the Venice Commission was specific, updated, objective and reliable. She said the cumulative impact of legislative changes had undermined judicial independence and the rule of law. In her view, those defects made it difficult to rely on mutual trust between EU member states or to require the Polish authorities to provide individual guarantees about Mr Celmer’s trial.
The warrants seek Mr Celmer’s surrender for prosecution on alleged drug trafficking and organised crime offences. The judgment records allegations relating to amphetamine, ecstasy and cannabis, including alleged trafficking in Poland and an alleged delivery in the Netherlands for further distribution in Poland. These are allegations set out in the warrants, not findings that the offences occurred.
Mr Celmer also objected on grounds including prison conditions and risk of harm. The judge rejected his objections under Articles 3 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, finding that the evidence did not establish a real risk of prohibited treatment and that surrender would not be disproportionate on family or personal life grounds. She also found that the warrants met the statutory requirements concerning offence details and that surrender was not prohibited under the provisions she considered.
The court did not make a final surrender order. Instead, it invited the parties to make submissions on the final wording of two questions to be referred to the CJEU: whether the usual European Arrest Warrant test based on mutual trust applies after a finding that the rule of law has been breached, and whether the High Court must seek further information from the Polish issuing authority in those circumstances. The judge directed that the matter be finalised without delay because Mr Celmer was in custody, so the CJEU could be asked to use its urgent procedure.