The emerging EU extradition Law. Petruhhin and beyond

Abstract

In a recent decision, the Court of Justice of the European Union held that Member States which apply a nationality exception in their extradition relations with third States are bound, under certain circumstances, to accord equal protection to EU citizens other than their own nationals. This article evaluates the nature, scope, impact and meaning of this ruling, and looks into two other extradition cases that are currently awaiting preliminary rulings. The analysis conducted leads the author to claim that these constitute ground-breaking developments which qualify as the advent of a new area within EU criminal law.