Supervisors info:
1) Ρεβέκκα-Εμμανουέλα Παπαδοπούλου, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια Ευρωπαϊκού Δικαίου, Τομέας Διεθνών Σπουδών
2) Μεταξία Ι. Κουσκουνά, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια Ευρωπαϊκού Δικαίου, Τομέας Διεθνών Σπουδών
3) Εμμανουήλ Περάκης, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής Ευρωπαϊκού Δικαίου, Τομέας Διεθνών Σπουδών
Summary:
The present dissertation aims to provide a critical overview of the uneasy relationship between, on the one hand, the principle of mutual trust as the bedrock of interstate cooperation in the European Area of Freedom, Security and Justice and, on the other hand, the protection of fundamental rights as core values that are integral to the European project. Essentially, the parameters of this relationship are not approached on a simple theoretical basis, but are rather explored in the light of their practical manifestation in the context of the European Arrest Warrant, the first and most symbolic measure applying mutual recognition in European criminal matters. Although in its almost two decades of operation the European Arrest Warrant has been hailed as an overall success, the instrument’s unaltered focus on crime control has provoked worrying signals for the protection of the fundamental rights of the surrendered individual, the latter progressively conceived as a holder of rights with an inextricable role in the surrender procedure rather than as a mere tool to meet law enforcement aims. As the effective, on-the-ground protection of fundamental rights and principles serves as a prerequisite for genuine trust, legitimacy, and the ultimate survival of effective cooperation based on mutual recognition, the optimal co-existence and parallel promotion of these two prima facie conflicting interests is not only desirable, but necessary; hence the need to examine their mutual interaction in the context of current challenges and developments in the European area of criminal justice.
The introduction to the dissertation seeks to provide an insight into the ambiguous notion of mutual trust and its gradual embedment as the core, precondition principle for the mutual-recognition-based system of cooperation in criminal matters. In particular, the complexity and distinctive characteristics of this system are outlined, taking into account the origins and historical development of European criminal law as well as the inevitable tension between the almost automatic, state-oriented recognition and execution of foreign judicial decisions and the protection of fundamental rights. On this premise, the main body of the dissertation is divided in two parts: the first part highlights the evolutionary path of the judicial conceptualization of mutual trust and its relationship with fundamental rights protection in the execution of the European Arrest Warrant, while the second part elaborates on the detailed application of the Court’s narrative in two entirely different contexts, namely under the prism of absolute and non absolute fundamental rights infringements.
More specifically, the first part traces the apex and the last episode of the Court’s saga on mutual trust in criminal matters; from the initial premise of an almost absolute obligation to recognize and execute foreign judicial decisions, the Court has progressively moved towards a more lenient approach, accepting the possibility, although in exceptional circumstances, of rebutting the presumption of mutual trust in the defence of fundamental rights. The first part attributes this paradigm shift to the process of constructive judicial dialogue and external pressure, rather than to the Court’s own realization of the need to rebalance enforcement demands with rights protection. In the same vein, the second part complements the preceding analysis by elaborating on the “two-tier test” employed by the Court in two distinct sets of factual circumstances. As the same approach seems to be followed, both for violations of the right against inhuman or degrading treatment and for violations of fair trial rights amidst the current rule of law crisis, the second part will discuss the practical challenges and, ultimately, the workability of the Court’s narrative in the light of the present challenging background of European integration.
The main part will be followed by conclusions concerning the need to re-conceptualize the notion of mutual trust and its parameters, focusing on the available trust building mechanisms and the principality reserved for the individual in the post-Lisbon era.
Keywords:
Area of Freedom Security and Justice, European criminal justice, European Arrest Warrant, mutual trust, mutual recognition, fundamental rights, judicial dialogue, rule of law
