The High Court has rejected Costica Bolmadir's objections to being surrendered to Bulgaria to face prosecution over an alleged trade mark offence involving perfume products valued at BGN 143,139.
Mr Justice Sean Gillane said he proposed to order Bolmadir's surrender after finding that none of the objections raised under the European Arrest Warrant Act 2003 required refusal.
The Bulgarian warrant alleges that on 30 October 2018 in Russe, Bolmadir used registered trade marks without the consent of their rights holders in commercial activity. According to the warrant, border police found 15 boxes of perfume products while he was unloading goods intended to be sent abroad. Expert examinations allegedly found signs identical or highly similar to registered perfume trade marks.
Bolmadir, a Romanian national, relied in part on the fact that the Galaţi Court of Appeal in Romania had already refused his surrender in July 2025. That refusal was based on Romanian limitation rules. The High Court held that this did not bar a later Irish surrender application because the relevant optional refusal ground does not form part of Irish law. The Bulgarian authority had also confirmed that it considered maintaining the warrant proportionate.
The court also rejected an argument that the warrant lacked clarity because it referred to one offence while listing numerous perfume products. Gillane J found it was clear that Bulgaria intended to prosecute a single offence.
On double criminality, the judge held that the alleged conduct would correspond in Ireland to an offence under section 92 of the Trade Marks Act 1996.
Bolmadir also raised concerns about Bulgarian prison conditions. While the court accepted that reports identified general deficiencies in parts of the prison system, Bulgaria confirmed that he would be held at the Russe detention centre, with at least four square metres of living space per detainee and an initial medical examination. The court found no real or substantial risk of treatment contrary to Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.