EU Co-operation in Criminal Matters: a human rights agenda
August 2000

The proposals agreed at the European Council meeting at Tampere in October 1999 involved radical changes to arrangements for mutual assistance, extradition and mutual recognition between member states over criminal justice matters. The aim of these changes is to make current procedures simpler, easier and quicker.

The proposals will, however, remove some safeguards and procedural requirements currently in place under both international treaties and national law. The aim in the long term will be to make certain judicial decisions made in one member state directly enforceable in another.

The current safeguards ensure that a country does not assist in the prosecution or detention of a person by another state in circumstances which are contrary to human rights. They also ensure that disparities between legal systems do not result in defendants and witnesses who are the subject of a request from another country being placed in a worse position than they would be under the national law of the requested country.

The report concludes that:

• By abolishing the double criminality requirement and removing the application of the domestic law of the requested state to extradition requests, the proposals risk creating a two-tier system of justice under domestic law.
• Any weakening of the double jeopardy principle, whereby people are not tried twice for the same offence, should be opposed.
• The programme's aim of removing both administrative and judicial supervision in the requested state gives cause for concern. The supervision and approval of requests in the requested country is an important element in the overall protection of individuals.

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