The German Public Prosecutor as (no) judicial authority within the meaning of the European Arrest Warrant: A case note on the CJEU’s judgment in OG (C-508/18) and PI (C 82/19 PPU)

Abstract

The judgment analysed concerns a request for a preliminary ruling by the Irish Supreme Court that casts doubts upon the judicial nature of the German Public Prosecutor’s Office as the issuing authority of a European Arrest Warrant. On the same day, another judgment was passed on a parallel request for a preliminary ruling by the same court concerning the Lithuanian Prosecutor General. The Court disqualifies, the German Prosecution Office in this regard but accepts the judicial character of the Lithuanian one. The gist of the issue is the (material) independence of the two Prosecution services which the Court denies regarding the former since it can be subjected to external directives by the executive branch (Minister of Justice). The Judgment applies mutatis mutandis also to other Prosecution services being subject to external directives and to other instruments of mutual recognition which need a “judicial authority” to be issued (e.g. the European Investigation Order).