The Constitutional Court in Extradition Law

Last available remedy

Because Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht, OLG) rulings on the admissibility of an extradition are final under Section 13 IRG, a constitutional complaint to the Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht, BVerfG) is the only way still to avert an extradition decision.

Standard of review

The BVerfG reviews violations of specific fundamental rights: Article 1(1) of the Basic Law (human dignity), Article 2(2) of the Basic Law (liberty), Article 16(2) of the Basic Law (protection against extradition), Article 19(4) of the Basic Law (effective legal protection), Article 101(1) of the Basic Law (the lawful judge), and Articles 4, 47 and 48 of the EU Charter.

Interim injunction

As a rule this should be combined with the constitutional complaint (Section 32 BVerfGG). The BVerfG can suspend the extradition until it has reached a decision. Time pressure is a defining feature — the attorney must act immediately after the OLG's decision.

Current practice

Repeated halts to extraditions to Turkey (2025), the setting aside of disproportionate arrest warrants, and a more precise framing of the review of systemic deficiencies in EAW cases.

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