🇮🇹 Italy → 🇪🇸 Spain

The case concerned a prosecution European Arrest Warrant issued by the Court of Cornellà de Llobregat, Spain, in criminal proceedings for drug trafficking within a wider investigation into a criminal association aimed at narcotics trafficking. The requested person challenged the surrender decision, arguing that the Italian Court of Appeal had failed to carry out an autonomous assessment of the precautionary grounds underlying the EAW and should have awaited the outcome of an appeal pending in Spain against the domestic custodial measure. The Italian Supreme Court held that those complaints sought a review of the foreign precautionary order, which falls within the jurisdiction of the issuing State and is outside the scope of review of the executing judicial authority. However, the Court found that the Court of Appeal had failed to rule on the requested person’s express request, as an Italian citizen, that any future custodial sentence be served in Italy under Article 19(2) of Law No. 69/2005. Since formal Italian citizenship was sufficient and no further factual assessment was required, the Supreme Court directly added the condition that surrender be subject to the requested person’s return to Italy to serve any sentence imposed in Spain, dismissing the appeal in all other respects.