Mutual Recognition and the European Court of Justice

Abstract

This paper centres on the question of the way in which the European Court of Justice (ECJ) gives shape to its role in the development of the principle of mutual recognition in criminal matters. It should be noted first of all in this regard that the number of cases in which the ECJ has ruled on issues relating to mutual recognition in criminal matters has been small up to now. The cases at hand nevertheless give a relatively clear idea of how the ECJ construes its role in these cases. In this paper, I will deal first in a more general sense with the obligation to interpret national legislation in conformity with framework decisions (section 2) and with the meaning of the concept of uniform and autonomous interpretation in explaining Union law (section 3). I then discuss the case law of the ECJ on the ne bis in idem principle of Article 54 CISA (section 4) and on the term ‘staying’ in Article 4 (6) of the EAW Framework Decision (section 5). Consecutively, I illustrate the importance of the case law of the ECJ on the basis of a Dutch case in which the issue was brought up of the extent to which the competent Dutch authorities may require that the text or a translation of the text of the applicable statutory pro-visions must be enclosed with a European arrest warrant (section 6). I end with several conclusions and - in view of the Treaty of Lisbon - an outlook for the near future (section 7).