The European Parliament today adopted a resolution calling for the review of the controversial European Arrest Warrant. With ever-mounting evidence on how the arrest warrant is misused, the Greens have long supported calls for its reform and welcomed the vote, with Green justice and home affairs spokesperson Judith Sargentini stating:

"The European arrest warrant needs an urgent reboot, with updates. It has long been clear that the arrest warrant is being misused in certain jurisdictions, which generate a high volume of requests for often frivolous offenses. It was not created to process minor offences, like bicycle theft, or, even worse, to force witnesses (and not suspects) to return for questioning. Not only does this place an unnecessary burden on the jurisdictions expected to process these arrest warrants, it has also shone the spotlight on the significant divergence in detention standards across the EU and the fundamental rights issues resulting from this.

"MEPs called on the EU Commission to present a proposal for a thorough revision of the European Arrest Warrant. There should be no extradition if there is a substantial risk that the fundamental rights of the suspect will be violated, for instance through an excessively long period of pre-trial detention. Authorities must verify the proportionality of extradition in relation to the seriousness of the offence and the personal circumstances of the suspect. Suspects must have the right to appeal to a court before a decision for their surrender is executed. While the Greens have supported moves towards stronger EU cooperation in judicial and criminal affairs, this must go hand-in-hand with guarantees on basic rights."