Mutual recognition and criminal law in the European Union: Has the Council got it wrong?

In order to address a perceived rise in cross-border crime, the EU has, since the Tampere European Council of 1999, developed a policy designed to enhance the free movement of criminal investigations, prosecutions and sentences across EU borders, by means of extending the principle of mutual recognition to criminal matters. The application of the principle as it has developed in criminal matters is not defensible, and should be reconsidered to align it with the application of the principle in the internal market, which usually requires either at least some basic comparability of underlining national laws before applying mutual recognition pursuant to the EC Treaty free movement rules, or the adoption of EC legislation to ensure that those national laws are sufficiently comparable.

Journal/Publisher: Common Market Law Review, Volume 41, Issue 1

Publication type: Article

Number of pages/Page range: 5-36

Language/s (content): English

Date of publication: 02-01-04

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Full name Steve PEERS

Current occupation Member

University/Institution University of Essex

Address Wivenhoe Park

Postal code CO4 3SQ

Telephone 0044 1206 873333

Email speers@essex.ac.uk