Malta does not extradite fugitive Prince Paul to Romania. Romanian JusMin: An outrageous decision

The judges in Malta rejected the extradition request in the case of fugitive Paul-Philippe of Romania, the decision being final. The Minister of Justice Alina Gorghiu stated that the decision of the Maltese court is “outrageous” and blatantly violates a decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union. She also said that she will request Prime Minister Ciolacu and the Government to react at the diplomatic level.

“An outrageous decision like the one communicated today is unacceptable if we think about the JAI Framework Decision in the matter of surrender and the recent interpretations of the CJEU following the request for a preliminary decision submitted in April by the Brasov Court of Appeal. The decision of the Maltese court represents a flagrant violation of a CJEU decision expressly given in the case of fugitive Paul-Philippe of Romania. I will propose to the Prime Minister of Romania that the Government react at the diplomatic level to such a flagrant violation of the CJEU decision“, said Alina Gorghiu, according to the Ministry of Justice.

Gorghiu added that “in this case too, the Romanian state, through the ANP, submitted all the required guarantees regarding the conditions in the penitentiaries”.

“The CJEU established that the EAW enforcement authority cannot apply a higher standard of protection of fundamental rights than that resulting from Union law and the Charter. Romania, through the ANP, has offered in over 850 cases in the last year alone, guarantees that prisons in Romania are up to the standards imposed by Union law. Regardless of the names of the fugitives, the lawyers’ strategies, the incorrect information about Romania presented to foreign courts, the Romanian state is making all possible efforts to bring everyone to the country, regardless of the notoriety of the cases”, the Justice Minister stated. She recalled that, last year, over 800 fugitives were brought to Romania and this year the number is over 400.

“In the case of Paul-Philippe of Romania, the court of first instance in Malta decided in favor of the Romanian state, but the court of appeal rejected the extradition of the fugitive to Romania. There is a proceeding before the constitutional court in Malta which we will continue to pursue. I remind you, the Brașov Court of Appeal issued the European arrest warrant on December 17, 2020 for this fugitive in order to serve the final sentence of 3 years and 4 months in prison for buying influence and complicity in abuse of office“, the Minister of Justice also specified.

She added that “the Maltese court has assessed that in the case of the execution of the European arrest warrant against Paul-Philippe of Romania, there is a real risk that he will be subject to a violation of art. 4 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU and art. 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, in other words, the conditions of detention in Romania are invoked”, according to the quoted source. “On this basis, the Maltese court refused to execute the European arrest warrant”, Gorghiu also stated and added that “the Romanian state will continue to use all available legal means to continue the efforts to hand over all the fugitives”.