The European Arrest Warrant and the protection of the best interests of the child: The Court's last word on the limits of mutual recognition and the evolving obligations of national judicial authorities

Abstract

The annotation analyses the recent CJEU preliminary ruling in the GN case, the latest chapter of the EAW effectiveness vs fundamental rights protection saga. The Court confirms that, in principle, considerations related to the best interests of the child can justify denial of execution of an EAW. However, this limitation can be triggered solely through the demanding Aranyosi and Căldăraru test. By taking this stance, the Court refuses to add a new category of exceptions to mutual recognition. In addition, based on its ever-refined case law, the Court fine-grains the obligations incumbent upon the national judicial authorities with respect to the conduct of direct exchanges of information and seems to advocate for a new obligation for the issuing judicial authority to refrain from using the EAW system when the circumstances of a case make refusal of surrender a highly likely option.