Fichera, Massimo --- "EU fundamental rights and the European Arrest Warrant" [2017] ELECD 983; in Douglas-Scott, Sionaidh; Hatzis, Nicholas (eds), "Research Handbook on EU Law and Human Rights" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017) 418

Book Title: Research Handbook on EU Law and Human Rights

Editor(s): Douglas-Scott, Sionaidh; Hatzis, Nicholas

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781782546399

Section: Chapter 19

Section Title: EU fundamental rights and the European Arrest Warrant

Author(s): Fichera, Massimo

Number of pages: 21

Abstract/Description:

This chapter analyses the role of fundamental rights in the European Arrest Warrant (EAW). As will be clearer in the following sections, whether the EAW is viewed as a peculiar form of extradition or as a sui generis instrument of cooperation, its distinctive feature is the involvement of two or more member states in the surrender of an individual who is to be tried or serve a sentence in the territory of one of them. Because this process does not take place in the same state, there emerges a grid of applicable rules and overlapping jurisdictions, which is further compounded by the overarching framework of the European Union. The main issues derive from the fact that the EAW was initially designed with an emphasis less on the protection of fundamental rights than on swift and smooth inter-state cooperation. In fact, the assumption behind the EAW is that the deep commitment of EU member states to fundamental rights and the rule of law and their time-honored common constitutional traditions do not make it necessary to devise specific transnational tools addressing cases of breach of fundamental rights. It is submitted that the EAW is a remarkable example of transnational law, which is here conceived as the progressive development of law beyond the borders of the sovereign state, characterised by the blurring of the classic distinction between domestic, European and international law.