Legal possibilities to fight against the execution of European Arrest Warrants in Hungary

This article is to provide basic information about the execution of European Arrest Warrants (EAW) in Hungary . For the sake of easy understanding the legal provisions are a slightly  simplified so it must be stressed that in order to get  adequate and precise advise you should consult a counsel or the original text of the relevant act.

It is a well known fact that legal possibilities to fight against the execution of European Arrest Warrants are limited in comparison with traditional extraditions. This applies of course to the Hungarian legal system too.

Execution of the EAWs may not be refused either on political grounds or on the basis that the wanted person is a Hungarian citizen.

Nevertheless there are some cases when the Hungarian court shall refuse the execution of the European Arrest Warrants. The refusal in the following cases is mandatory:

The requested person may not be punished due to infancy,

The act upon the basis of which the EAW has been issued is not enlisted in the catalogue of offences in  the Annex of the Framework Decision and does not constitute an offence according to Hungarian Criminal Code,

Lapse of time occurred according to Hungarian Criminal Law provided that offence falls under Hungarian jurisdiction,

The offence has been considered and closed down by a final judgment or there is an ongoing criminal procedure in any Member State or Third State,

There is an ongoing criminal procedure in Hungary about the offence, the criminal notice has been rejected by the Hungarian authorities or the procedure has been terminated,

The European Arrest Warrant has been issued for the execution of a criminal judgment carried out in absentia except for the case that the wanted person was aware of the procedure and of the fact that the process may be finished in absentia,

The wanted person bears Hungarian citizenship and is a resident in Hungary (in this case the Hungarian Minister of Justice initiates the handing over the execution of the prison punishment)

There is a case when the refusal is not mandatory but discretional for the Hungarian court. The execution of the EAW may be refused in case the offence has been committed or partly committed within the territory of Hungary.

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