Cooperation in criminal matters in the European Union and Human Rights: the example of the European Investigation Order

The European Investigation Order (EIO) was established by Directive 2014/41/EU, and should be transposed into Member States’ national legislations by 22 May 2017 (with the exception of Denmark and Ireland). The necessity for this instrument occurred because the –then existing– framework for gathering evidence was too fragmented and complicated and needed to be replaced by a comprehensive single instrument. The EIO is to be issued for the purpose of having one or several specific investigative measures carried out in the Member State executing the EIO (executing state). This instrument does not only concern the gathering of new evidence but also allows the issuing state to request evidence that the executing authorities already have in their possession. This tool can be compared to the European Arrest Warrant, since it is also based on the principle of mutual recognition of judgements and judicial decisions (article 82§1 TFEU). Most probably, many issues concerning human rights and their violation will be raised by the enforcement of such an instrument. In the PhD thesis in preparation, firstly we analyse the traditional instruments of cooperation in criminal matters deriving from the Council of Europe’s legal framework, as well as the European Union legal framework concerning mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. Then follows an in-depth study of the EIO as a tool to perform investigations and to obtain evidence, in which we examine this system from a human rights perspective. Indeed it appears of primary importance (to try) to assess whether the enforcement of such an instrument will violate human rights.