Italian Supreme Court blocks European Arrest Warrant to Hungary over inhumane prison conditions

❕ Italian Supreme Court blocks European Arrest Warrant to Hungary over inhumane prison conditions 👩‍⚖️

The Sixth Criminal Section of the Italian Supreme Court (Corte di Cassazione), with ruling no. 1364 dated 7 October 2025, annulled a previous decision and ordered a new hearing before the Court of Appeal of Bologna.
The Court held that Italy should not execute the European Arrest Warrant issued by the Court of Appeal of Székesfehérvár (Hungary) against R.A., a Pakistani citizen, due to the inhumane and degrading conditions in Hungarian prisons.

Among the key legal reasons, the Court found violations of Articles 2 and 16 of Law no. 69/2005, Article 6 T.E.U, and Article 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The judgment highlighted that the lower court had failed to properly consider the defence’s evidence on Hungarian prison conditions, including the report by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (4 July 2024), translated into Italian by Associazione Antigone, both EPO’s partners.
The Supreme Court emphasized that an executing judicial authority must refuse to carry out a European Arrest Warrant whenever there is a real risk of fundamental rights violations as guaranteed by the EU Charter. According to the Hungarian Helsinki Committee’s findings, executing the order could expose R.A. to inhuman or degrading treatment within Hungarian detention facilities.
Given the relevance of the information provided by the Hungarian NGO, in cooperation with Associazione Antigone, Hungarian authorities will now be required to provide detailed information about detention conditions and the treatment of prisoners.

This decision marks a significant step forward for the protection of human rights in Europe, reaffirming that mutual trust and shared values must remain the foundation of judicial cooperation among EU Member States.