A European System of Coercive Measures: A Study in Proportionality and Effectiveness

Abstract

The European instrument for judicial cooperation in criminal matters, the European Supervision Order, represents an unexploited potential of application that could provide an alternative to the leading cooperation instrument, the European arrest warrant. The use of non-custodial measures may not only strengthen cooperation between Member States, but also increase the dynamics of the whole procedure. Current judicial cooperation is assessed in this Article in the light of the principle of proportionality of the use of preventive measures in general. An important interpretative guide in this respect is the rule tightening the criteria for recognising the possibility of enforcing a custodial measure developed by the Court of Justice of the European Union in the Aranyosi & Căldăraru case. This judgment is of great importance for the principle of mutual recognition, the application of which seems to be strengthened in the judgments of the Tribunal issued in the dispute over the reform of the Polish judiciary system. Therefore, non-custodial measures that form the core of the European Supervision Order, according to the authors, can be a remedy for the challenges that have arisen. The instrument will also be discussed from the point of view of the criterion of efficiency, interpreted, inter alia, as ensuring equal implementation of the objectives of the procedure.

Keywords

• european arrest warrant
• judicial cooperation in criminal matters
• criminal proceedings
• european supervision order
• non-custodial measures