🇮🇹 Italy → 🇱🇻 Latvia

European Arrest Warrant (EAW) and risk of inhuman or degrading treatment: the assessment carried out by the Court of Appeal cannot be based on generic assurances of compliance with legal provisions and absence of risk, as expressed in the communication sent by the Latvian authorities. While, as a general rule, reliance must be placed on assurances provided by the issuing Member State, it remains possible, in certain circumstances, to establish the existence of a real risk of treatment contrary to the guarantees set out in Article 4 of the Charter, particularly in relation to detention conditions.

The case concerned a European Arrest Warrant issued by the Latvian judicial authority for prosecution in relation to theft, destruction and falsification of documents, and facilitation of illegal immigration. The requested person did not consent to surrender. The Court of Appeal of Bologna held that the legal requirements for execution of the warrant were satisfied. It found that the EAW was issued by a judicial authority, that the underlying arrest measure and the warrant described the alleged facts, and that the evidentiary framework had been legitimately assessed by the issuing authority. The offences were punishable by sentences exceeding the statutory threshold and were also criminal offences under Italian law. The Court rejected the argument that the case was politically motivated. It held that the alleged political nature of the offences was excluded by the content of the warrant and that any alleged political persecution concerning the person whose expatriation had allegedly been facilitated could, at most, affect the surrender of that person, not the surrender of the alleged facilitator. The Court therefore declared that the conditions for surrender to Latvia were met.