CJUE Ruling Strengthens Romania’s Hand in Pursuing Fugitive Criminals, Says Foreign Minister Oana Toiu
Bucharest, The Gulf Observer: Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Toiu has welcomed a landmark ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJUE), which prevents Romanian fugitives from avoiding prison sentences at home by seeking lenient conditions such as house arrest in other EU member states.
The decision, issued in case C-305/22 following a request from the Bucharest Court of Appeal, clarifies that a member state refusing to enforce a European Arrest Warrant in order to carry out a sentence domestically must first obtain the consent of the issuing state’s judiciary. Without such approval, the convicted individual must be surrendered to the requesting country.
“This is good news for us and bad news for luxury criminals,” Minister Toiu stated, noting that the ruling closes loopholes previously exploited by high-profile offenders to evade Romanian justice. “From now on, fugitives can no longer shield themselves in friendly states offering more comfortable conditions, when in Romania their sentence would have been prison.”
The Foreign Minister congratulated the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs legal team, particularly Emilia Gane, Government Agent for the CJUE, and diplomat Mihaela Chicu from the EU Litigation Service, for their role in representing Romania in the proceedings. “Their work is not always in the spotlight, but it is extremely important,” Toiu emphasized.
The ruling ensures that EU countries can no longer refuse Romania’s requests for extradition under European Arrest Warrants without Romania’s consent to assume execution of the sentence. This reinforces the principle of mutual recognition of judicial decisions across the EU and strengthens judicial cooperation in criminal matters.
Romania was represented before the CJUE by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through its Government Agent for the Court, in coordination with the Ministry of Justice, which is the competent authority on this matter.
