The European Arrest Warrant (EAW) is a form of judicial cooperation which is incorporated into Croatian legislation through the law on judicial cooperation with European Union countries, which goes into force with Croatia's EU accession on July 1, Police Directorate spokeswoman Jelena Bikic told the media on Wednesday.
She said judicial bodies of EU member countries could exchange the EAW directly, through Eurojust or the European Judicial Network.
If the whereabouts of a wanted persons are unknown, the relevant judicial bodies may order the police to search the Schengen Information System (SIS), Bikic said, adding that Croatia still did not have access to the SIS and did not know how many Croatian citizens were wanted by EU countries through the SIS.
She recalled that under the law on judicial cooperation with EU countries, in the time when access to the SIS is unavailable, the EAW can be exchanged through Interpol and that based on this, it was clear that the EAW had been issued for several Croatian citizens.
