Key facts of the case:

Request for a preliminary ruling from the Županijski Sud u Zagrebu.

Reference for a preliminary ruling — Judicial cooperation in criminal matters — European arrest warrant — Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA — Article 1(2), Article 3(2) and Article 4(3) — Grounds for the refusal to execute — Closure of criminal proceedings — Principle ne bis in idem — Requested person who had the status of a witness in previous proceedings concerning the same acts — Issue of several European arrest warrants against the same person.

Outcome of the case:

On the basis of the above considerations, I propose that the Court replies to the request for a preliminary ruling from the Županijski Sud u Zagrebu (County Court, Zagreb, Croatia) as follows:

The Court of Justice of the European Union does not have jurisdiction to answer Questions 1 to 4 referred for a preliminary ruling by the Županijski Sud u Zagrebu (County Court, Zagreb) by decision of 18 May 2017.

By virtue of Article 1(2) of Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA of 13 June 2002 on the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between Member States (‘the Framework Decision’) the executing judicial authority is required to adopt a decision on a European arrest warrant (EAW) transmitted to it, even where, in that Member State, a previous EAW has already been decided on concerning the same requested person, in the same criminal proceedings, but the second EAW is issued by another judicial authority because of a change of circumstances in the issuing Member State.