Judgment_paragraph 50 · LU and PH (C-514/21)

50Article 4a of Framework Decision 2002/584 thus seeks to guarantee a high level of protection and to allow the executing authority to surrender the person concerned despite that person’s failure to attend the trial which led to his or her conviction, while fully respecting his or her rights of defence (judgment of 17 December 2020, Generalstaatsanwaltschaft Hamburg, C‑416/20 PPU, EU:C:2020:1042, paragraph 39 and the case-law cited). More specifically, it is expressly stated in Article 1 of Framework Decision 2009/299, read in the light of recitals 1 and 15 thereof, that Article 4a was inserted into Framework Decision 2002/584 in order to protect the right of the accused person to appear in person at the trial, while improving mutual recognition of judicial decisions between Member States.