Judgment_paragraph 54 · Criminal proceedings against Lluís Puig Gordi and Others (C-158/21)

54The observance of fundamental rights in the context of proceedings relating to a European arrest warrant falls primarily within the responsibility of the issuing Member State. Therefore, and given that the issuing of such a warrant may result in the arrest of the person subject to it, an issuing judicial authority must, in order to ensure observance of those rights, be able to refer questions to the Court for a preliminary ruling in order to determine whether to maintain or withdraw a European arrest warrant or whether it may issue such a warrant (see, to that effect, judgments of 25 July 2018, AY (Arrest Warrant – Witness), C‑268/17, EU:C:2018:602, paragraphs 28 and 29, and of 28 January 2021, Spetsializirana prokuratura (Letter of rights), C‑649/19, EU:C:2021:75, paragraph 39).