Harmonization of the national laws of EU Member States and the necessity to amend the Polish Constitution of 2 April 1997

Abstract

The subject of considerations in this study will be the issue of the consequences of introducing the provisions of the Framework Decision on the European arrest warrant into the legal order of the Republic of Poland, including the relationship of these provisions to the constitutional prohibition on the extradition of Polish citizens. In the opinion of the Criminal Law Codification Committee at the Minister of Justice, it follows that the implementation of framework decisions by a Member State is subject to the same rules and principles as the implementation of directives by a Member State. A Member State cannot justify the non-implementation of a directive by domestic law (including constitutional provisions). However, the issue of the effect of the framework decision is not directly related to the implementation (implementation) of that decision by a Member State, as it concerns the process of applying Community law by the courts of a Member State. The statement that the framework decision does not have direct effect is therefore irrelevant for the assessment of the compliance of the Polish provisions introducing the European arrest warrant with the provisions of the Polish Constitution. As a consequence, the issue of EAW implementation may be properly resolved by amending the Constitution of the Republic of Poland.