On 5th November 2009 the European Commission organised a meeting of extradition practitioners and judges to discuss the application of the principle of proportionality to European Arrest Warrant cases.
At present there is no commonly applied standard among members states to considerations engaged by the principle of proportionality. The principle is manifest in every EAW case; whether in a prosecutor's decision to seek extradition or in the decision of a court to order extradition.
Peter Caldwell's submission to the Commission gave a UK perspective on the issue and considered whether a single statutory scheme can really accommodate non-EU extradition as well as "surrender" under the EAW regime. He concluded that if the EAW system is separate and distinct from extradition then, consistent with the founding principle of mutual recognition, member states should apply a common standard when the proportionality of an EAW is challenged.