European Arrest Warrant

European arrest warrant is an important tool of judicial bodies of the EU member states aiming at arresting the person on the territory of the member states and at subsequent take-over of the person to the requesting member state for prosecution, execution of the punishment imposed or a protective measure. The European arrest warrant issued in the Schengen Area countries also represents a legal basis for inserting a search (creating an entry) in the Schengen Information Systemin line with the Article 95 of the Schengen Convention, and herewith then creates a scope for international co-operation of judicial and police bodies of these states.

In the Slovak Republic this issue is regulated by the Act No. 154/2010 on European Arrest Warrant laying down the procedure of Slovak authorities when take-over persons among the EU member states on the basis of the European arrest warrant and the related proceedings.

SIRENE office plays an important role in the process of international search for a person as well as in the process of exchanging necessary information among the Schengen Area countries. In addition to the related administration, the SIRENE staff directly arranges physical hand-over of the person and in almost all cases they also take part in the hand-over process itself.

The procedure of the physical hand-over of the person between the state requesting the person to be taken-over and the state handing-over the person is a subject of co-operation of police authorities of these states. The escort and the subsequent hand-over of the person is always made with armed security units present, both on land borders of the co-operating countries – at former border crossings or at the common contact centres - as well as in identified airport areas, if the person has to be escorted by plane.

The following table contains a summary of the number of persons handed-over or taken-over by the Slovak Republic on the basis of the European arrest warrant (entries in the Schengen Information System) as a part of international police co-operation with the Schengen Area states between 2008-2021.