Extradition Lawyer in Frankfurt: OLG Frankfurt am Main and the Local Procedure

Identify the legal basis for the arrest. A European Arrest Warrant (EAW) is an EU surrender mechanism, not a request from a non-EU state. An INTERPOL Red Notice is an alert, not itself an international arrest warrant or an order to extradite. Ask which German warrant or request is being executed. The national framework is covered in Extradition from Germany.

Which Frankfurt institutions handle the case?

If held at JVA Frankfurt am Main I, check the official visit process before travelling: a Besuchsschein is required, visitor vetting must be approved before the first visit, and appointments are booked online. Vetting may take several weeks; where section 119 StPO restrictions apply, obtain any additional court or prosecutor permit.

The OLG’s main building is at Zeil 42, 60313 Frankfurt am Main. Criminal hearings are in rooms I and II of building E, Hammelsgasse 1, accessed via Klapperfeldstraße. Follow the hearing notice, not just the administrative address.

What happens after an arrest at Frankfurt Airport?

This is a practical action plan, not a statutory “first 72 hours” period. Sections 21 and 22 IRG require presentation to the nearest Amtsgericht by the day after arrest, then questioning by the day after presentation. These are separate deadlines.

Do not collapse admissibility, authorisation and handover into one step. For a request from an EU Member State, section 79 IRG requires the authorising authority to decide preliminarily, before the OLG’s admissibility ruling, whether it intends to invoke statutory authorisation obstacles. Any later authorisation and the physical handover are distinct steps. The sequence and deadlines differ by legal route.

Legal assistance is mandatory after arrest in extradition proceedings under section 40(2) IRG; a lawyer must be appointed promptly if needed. If the person does not understand German, ask for an interpreter. Under section 77 IRG, procedural rules apply by analogy where the IRG has no special rule; sections 185 and 187 GVG address interpretation and free translation needed to exercise procedural rights. State the person’s preferred language clearly.

Which detention deadlines matter in Frankfurt?

• First appearance and questioning: the day-after-arrest deadline and the separate day-after-presentation deadline in sections 21 and 22 IRG are statutory limits. They are not a single blanket “48-hour rule”, and they do not mean the OLG must decide the whole extradition case by then.
• Review of continued detention: Review of continued detention: under section 26 IRG, the OLG must decide on continued detention when the person has been held for extradition purposes for a total of two months since apprehension, provisional arrest or the last decision on continued detention. The review then repeats every two months; the OLG may order a shorter interval.
• Less restrictive measures: under section 25 IRG, the OLG may suspend enforcement of the extradition arrest warrant if less intrusive measures can reliably secure the procedure. This is an individual assessment, not a right to automatic release after a fixed number of days.

What does the published Frankfurt case show—and what does it not show?

In OLG Frankfurt am Main, 2 OAus 27/25 (decision dated 3 March 2025; official press release dated 7 May 2025), the person had been arrested at Frankfurt Airport in February 2025 following a French request for extradition for prosecution. The OLG’s Second Criminal Senate declared extradition to France admissible and ordered extradition detention, citing an individual risk of evasion that included the absence of a fixed residence in Germany. This is a local example, not a general rule or prediction; the current annual business-distribution plan determines which senate handles another file.

The published facts show only that an arrest at Frankfurt Airport can be followed by an OLG admissibility decision and a separate detention order. They establish neither a fixed detention limit nor automatic release, and they do not predict the outcome of another case.

Can an OLG Frankfurt decision be appealed?

Under section 13(1) IRG, OLG decisions are not open to an ordinary appeal. Section 42 IRG provides a different mechanism: the OLG may refer a question of fundamental legal importance, or a proposed departure from a BGH or another OLG decision on an extradition-law question, to the Federal Court of Justice (BGH; Bundesgerichtshof). This is not a direct appeal that the detainee can file. If a decision has been served, give counsel the complete order and the date of service immediately so the available route and any urgent step can be assessed. Detailed refusal grounds and remedy deadlines belong to How to Stop Extradition from Germany.

What should family and foreign counsel prepare now?

• Full name and alternate spellings, date and place of birth, nationality and copies of identity documents.
• The arrest record, detention warrant or order, EAW or extradition papers, any Red Notice information and the case number.
• Previous proceedings about the same conduct, including judgments, acquittals and sentence records.
• Medical records, current medication and evidence of urgent treatment needs, with translations where available.
• Evidence relevant to less restrictive measures: a stable address, family ties, work, care responsibilities or a realistic reporting arrangement. No single document guarantees release.
• The confirmed custody location and preferred language. JVA Frankfurt am Main I is only a possible location for adult male remand detainees, not everyone arrested for extradition.
• The hearing notice and the exact court entrance stated by the court. For OLG criminal hearings, check the official directions for building E and the Klapperfeldstraße access.

Hypothetical example: A traveller is detained at Frankfurt Airport on an EAW and appears before Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main the next day. The traveller is prepared to consent to simplified surrender but does not want to waive speciality. Counsel should ensure that the two declarations are considered separately and accurately recorded, then address detention and any admissibility issue before OLG Frankfurt am Main. The published 2025 Frankfurt case demonstrates why the first hearing is not the final OLG decision and why a declaration should not be assumed to cover a different legal consequence.

Lex Agency’s team coordinates cross-border defence with local counsel. To discuss the facts and documents in a specific case, use the request page.