Assessing mutual trust among EU members: evidence from the European Arrest Warrant

Abstract

ABSTRACTInternational cooperation on criminal justice requires mutual trust: a belief that the partner's legal system functions adequately and adheres to fundamental norms. The European Union builds its judicial-cooperation efforts on a presumption of mutual trust: EU members are assumed to trust each other's justice system since they share a commitment to human rights and the rule of law. Skeptics argue, however, that such trust does not really exist given the wide variation in legal standards and practices across Europe. Yet such skepticism has not been supported by systematic evidence. This article seeks to offer such evidence and to quantify the impact of the lack of mutual trust. It does so by examining the record of British and Irish participation in the European Arrest Warrant: a fast-track process of surrender of fugitives between Member States. We find that judicial authorities in Britain and Ireland deviate from the mutual-trust presumption: they accord a more favorable treatment to Member States with a stronger rule of law or a better human-rights record – and this considerably affects the rate of surrenders. This finding offers important implications for the EU's justice policy and for understanding cooperation against crime more broadly.