The entrance hall of Interpol’s headquarters in Lyon, France. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani, File)
(CN) — Europe’s top court ruled Wednesday that someone who’s been prosecuted in one European Union state should not face arrest and extradition to a nation outside the bloc for the same crimes.
The European Court of Justice’s decision came in a case involving a German man facing extradition to the United States on charges of corruption, money laundering and fraud even though he had paid fines in Germany in connection with the same charges.
Wednesday’s ruling by the court’s Grand Chamber was largely in line with an advisory opinion issued in November by a magistrate at the court, Advocate General Michal Bobek, who said the legal principle of double jeopardy should apply both within the EU and outside it. Most jurisdictions worldwide have adopted the principle that prevents someone from being tried for the same crime twice after a valid verdict has been rendered.