European Arrest Warrant Act 2003

European arrest warrants and requests for extradition.

30.—(1) If the Central Authority in the State receives a European arrest warrant in respect of a person and a request from a third country for the extradition of that person, the Central Authority in the State shall, where the High Court has not yet made an order under section 15 , or subsection (1) or (2) of section 16 , in relation to the person, inform the High Court as soon as may be of the receipt by it of the European arrest warrant and the request for extradition, and the High Court shall, having regard to all the circumstances, decide whether it shall perform functions—

(a) in relation to the European arrest warrant, under this Act, or

(b) in relation to the request for extradition, under the Extradition Acts 1965 to 2001.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the High Court shall in making a decision under subsection (1) have regard to—

(a) the seriousness of—

(i) the offence specified in the European arrest warrant, and

(ii) the offence to which the request for extradition relates,

(b) the places where the offences concerned were committed or are alleged to have been committed,

(c) the date on which the European arrest warrant was issued and the date on which the request for extradition was made,

(d) whether the European arrest warrant was issued, or the request for extradition was made, for the purposes of bringing proceedings for an offence against the person concerned or for the purposes of executing a sentence or detention order in respect of the person, and

(e) the relevant extradition provisions.

(3) If the Central Authority in the State receives a European arrest warrant in respect of a person and the State receives a request from the International Criminal Court for the arrest and surrender of the same person, the Central Authority in the State shall, where an order has not yet been made under section 15 , or subsection (1) or (2) of section 16 , in relation to that person, so inform the High Court, and the High Court shall not perform functions under this Act in relation to the European arrest warrant, unless the arrest and surrender of that person pursuant to such a request is prohibited, or not provided for, under the law of the State.

(4) In this section “extradition provisions” has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 1965.