The European Arrest Warrant — A Victim of its Own Success?
| DOI | 10.1177/203228441100200202 |
| Author | Karen Weis |
| Date | 01 June 2011 |
| Published date | 01 June 2011 |
| Subject Matter | Analysis and Opinions |
124 Intersentia
ANALYSIS AND OPINIONS
THE EUROPEAN ARREST WARRANT
A VICTIM OF ITS OWN SUCCESS?
K W*
ABSTRAC T
is article c ritically analyses the recent eor ts of the European Union to deal with the
problem of disproportionate Eu ropean Arrest Warrants.
Before tack ling the quest ion, it is helpf ul to study the press releas e of the European
Commission of 11 April 2011.
Here it is in full:
Report from the Comm ission on the implementation since 2007 of t he European
arrest warra nt – Press Release IP/11/454
Brussels, 11 April 2011
European arrest warra nt ghts cross-border cri me, but EU Member States can
improve how it is used, Commission report says
Europeans h ave the right to travel freely within the EU for work, study or holidays.
But open borders should not allow cri minals to evade justice simply by t ravelling to
another Member State. e European ar rest warrant – in eect since 2004 – provide s
an ecient tool for extradit ing people suspected of an oence from one EU country to
another, so that cr iminals have no hiding place i n Europe. For example, doz ens of
suspected drug smugglers, murderers and child sex crime oenders have been brought
back to the UK from Spain than ks to the system. While there are many successes, EU
Member States can improve how the system – which is based on mutua l condence
between nationa l judicial system s – operates, t he European Commi ssion found in a
report released today. Member States should use the European a rrest warrant with
due regard to fundamental r ights and the actual need for ext radition in each case.
* Researcher Vrije Unive rsiteit Brussel, Membe r of the Brussels University Alli ance Research Group
on European Cri minal Law (RECL).
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