Be careful what you ask for: The European Court of Justice's EAW jurisprudence meets the Catalan secession crisis and the European rule of law crisis in Puig Gordi and others, C-158/21, EU:C:2023:57

Abstract

Puig Gordi and others, a consequence of the Europeanization of the Catalan secession crisis, is another case in the constant evolution of the Court of Justice of the European Union's (CJEU) case law on the European Arrest Warrant (EAW). To this judicial cooperation mechanism of an automatic nature, the CJEU has gradually incorporated the evaluation of fundamental rights as an integral part of its nature. This incorporation has been needed even more in the context of the rule of law crisis. In the particular case, the CJEU guides the application of the two-step test only on the possible violation of the fundamental right to a court established by law but does not express guidelines regarding other possible violations. Problems in the drawing of the preliminary reference explains the CJEU's lack of a complete answer, which may create uncertainty for the parties involved as to how the EAW should be executed in the particular case.