JUDGMENT OF 25. 7. 2018 –– CASE C-220/18 PPU
GENERALSTAATSANWALTSCHAFT (CONDITIONS OF DETENTION IN HUNGARY)
– the Danish Government, by M. Søndahl Wolff, acting as Agent,
– Ireland, by G. Mullan, Barrister-at-Law,
– the Spanish Government, by Sampol Pucurull, acting as Agent,
– the Hungarian Government, by M.Z. Fehér, G. Tornyai and M.M. Tátrai, acting as Agents,
– the Netherlands Government, by J. Langer, acting as Agent,
– the Romanian Government, by E. Gane and C.-M. Florescu, acting as Agents,
– the European Commission, by R. Troosters and S. Grünheid, acting as Agents,
after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 4 July 2018,
gives the following
Judgment
1
This request for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of Article 4 of the Charter of
Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the Charter’) and of Article 1(3), Article 5 and
Article 6(1) of Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA of 13 June 2002 on the European arrest
warrant and the surrender procedures between Member States (OJ 2002 L 190, p. 1), as amended by
Council Framework Decision 2009/299/JHA of 26 February 2009 (OJ 2009 L 81, p. 24) (‘the
Framework Decision’).
2
The request has been made in connection with the execution in Germany of a European arrest warrant
issued on 31 October 2017 by the Nyíregyházi Járásbíróság (District Court, Nyíregyházi, Hungary)
against ML for the purpose of executing a custodial sentence in Hungary.
Legal context
European Union law
The Charter
3
Article 4 of the Charter, entitled ‘Prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment’, provides:
‘No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.’
4
The Explanations relating to the Charter of Fundamental Rights (OJ 2007 C 303, p. 17) state that ‘the
right in Article 4 [of the Charter] is the right guaranteed by Article 3 of the [European Convention for
the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, signed in Rome on 4 November 1950
(“the ECHR”)], which has the same wording … By virtue of Article 52(3) of the Charter, it therefore
has the same meaning and the same scope as the ECHR Article’.
2
ECLI:EU:C:2018:589