Malta Court of Appeal rejects extradition request for Romanian prince News
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Malta Court of Appeal rejects extradition request for Romanian prince

The Court of Appeal of Malta on Monday rejected an extradition request from Romania for Prince Paul Philippe Al Romaniei due to a risk that he “would be subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment due to the prison conditions.” 

In the judgment, Judge Edwina Grima, said that a variety of factors were taken into account, including the age, health and special status of Al-Romaniei, a member of the deposed Romanian royal family, who was recognized as an heir in 2012 after a long-running dispute. The judge said that the royal status was still “subject to controversy” and that it may have influenced a decision by the Romanian High Court of Cassation and Justice. The court also considered the prison conditions in Romania and, in particular, highlighted concerns over the Bucharest-Rahova prison, which has been involved in several human rights violation cases. 

Prince Paul Philippe Al Romaniei, aged 75, fled Romania back in 2020 after being found guilty of falsely claiming that he owned real estate near Buchares. Romanian courts sentenced him to three years and four months imprisonment. He was first arrested in Paris, under a European Arrest Warrant (EAW), where he successfully defended an extradition request, with the Paris Appeals Court ruling that the request was politically motivated. He was arrested in Malta earlier this year due to the EAW still being in effect. Initially, the extradition request was turned down by Magistrate Leonard Caruana, who said that the court could not “ascertain that the execution of the present EAW will not result in the risk of a breach, or breaches, of Article 4 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.” This decision was overturned on appeal and the order was given for extradition. This latest decision revokes that order. 

According to local news sources, Romanian Minister of Justice, Alina Gorghiu, said that the judgment was “an outrageous decision … I will propose to the Prime Minister of Romania that the Government react at the diplomatic level to such a flagrant violation of the CJEU decision.”

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