The european arrest warrant in law and in pratice: a comparative study for the consolidation of the European law- enforcement area
The Tampere European Council made significant progress towards a closer judicial cooperation within the European Union as well as the achievement of one of the Union’s strategic objectives: the creation of an area of freedom, security and justice. The new EU Treaty now being debated will reinforce this specific objective. On 13 July 2002 the European Council adopted the Framework Decision on the European Arrest Warrant and Surrender Procedures (EAW). Despite the efforts being made in the EU as whole to disseminate and harmonise these procedures, little is known as to how they are actually working in practice. This information is fundamental to tackle possible problems and devise an adequate training programme. Data collected in this project will also allow us to learn about the profile of the criminal practices and defendants the EAW is applied to. The project is not limited to the analysis of legal literature and the creation and application of a comparative grid for national legislations, but it has an inter-disciplinary approach and focuses on practical experiences and implemented policies. More specifically, the project seeks to describe, study and compare the practical application of the EAW in four Member States, the profile of the criminal practices and defendants, as well as the judges’ perception of how this instrument works and how effective it is in preventing and combating the circulation of crimes. The research will entail the following activities: analysis of the literature, the law and relevant jurisprudence, four in-depth case studies, four case studies reports plus a comparative analysis, interviews, discussion panels, a questionnaire, training programme guidelines, publication of the results, an international conference (Coimbra, Portugal – October 2009). The project will involve 5 senior researchers, 1 researcher, 4 assistant researchers and 43 judges and/or experts, and will last for 24 months. The working language will be English.
Conceição Gomes
Diana Fernandes
Élida Lauris
Fátima de Sousa
José Manuel Reis
Marina Henriques