The Principle of Mutual Recognition in Criminal Matters: a New Model of Judicial Cooperation Within the European Union

Abstract

The construction of a European criminal area crystallises all the tensions of a repression which is taking place at an international level. The objectives of the Area of freedom, security and justice in judicial matters rely entirely on an outstanding principle, the principle of mutual recognition of judicial decisions. Imported from the internal market, the principle of mutual recognition is to achieve free movement of criminal decisions within the European Union. This dynamic, asserted in 1999, dawns in an a priori hostile field, and any technical definition of neither the principle of mutual recognition, nor the procedural mechanism are provided. This study aims to establish in legal terms the contents and the outline of the principle of mutual recognition in criminal matters, first by determining a legal definition of the principle in criminal matters and then a procedure for its implementation. Mutual recognition shall be viewed both as a new legal principle and, in a broader sense, a new system of European criminal cooperation