Extradition and the European Arrest Warrant.
An international arrest warrant puts liberty at stake, and everything that depends on it: residence, wealth, family. The procedure can be defended and it has deadlines. We oppose surrender, apply for precautionary measures that avoid remand in custody, and coordinate the strategy with defence counsel in the requesting State.
The procedure
What it is and what can be opposed
They are not the same thing. The European Arrest Warrant circulates between EU Member States, is decided by the National High Court (Audiencia Nacional) and runs to deadlines measured in days, with a closed list of grounds for non-execution. Conventional treaty-based extradition arrives through diplomatic channels, is slower and leaves more room for opposition. Requests from the United Kingdom have, since Brexit, followed a third route: surrender under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, similar to, but not, a European Arrest Warrant. Knowing which one you are facing defines the entire strategy.
That is why the first call matters. After the arrest, the comparecencia (the hearing before the judge at which custody or release is decided) comes within hours, and that is where the essentials are decided: whether or not to consent to surrender; remand in custody or release subject to measures. Consent given without a defence lawyer is irrevocable under Spanish law, and waiving the speciality rule (which confines prosecution to the offences in the warrant) is a further, separate decision. No one should go through that hearing without a criminal defence lawyer who knows the file.
Opposition is possible on specific grounds: proceedings already open in Spain for the same facts, the offence being time-barred, defects in the warrant itself, or a risk of breach of fundamental rights, including prison conditions in the requesting State. We examine each ground in writing before the first hearing.
The Garzalex process
How we work
First call
Procedural position, requesting State and timetable. In that conversation we decide what is done in the following hours and who appears. Professional secrecy (the Spanish lawyer’s statutory duty of confidentiality) from the first minute.
Opposition strategy
Study of the warrant and of the grounds for non-execution that apply to the case. In writing, with scenarios, before the first comparecencia.
Hearings and measures
Hearings (comparecencias) before the National High Court: opposing surrender and applying for release, or for measures less severe than remand in custody.
International coordination
Joint work with defence counsel in the requesting State and, where the case requires it, review of the INTERPOL diffusion (as distinct from a Red Notice). A single point of contact: the partner who handles your matter.
The clock is already running.
If a warrant is in progress, every day counts. A private conversation to establish where the case stands and what can still be done.
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