Mutual Trust As a Balancing Principle in EU Criminal Justice Cooperation

The EU has for over a decade cooperated in criminal justice matters on the basis of mutual recognition, which in short requires Member States to give full effect to judicial decisions taken across the EU. Mutual recognition functions on a presumption of mutual trust, which in turn rest on the shared tradition of respect for fundamental rights and liberties. The first experiences with mutual recognition have been mixed; while it has served prosecutorial interests, this has at times been done at the cost of human rights. Overall, it is often alleged that there is insufficient trust for mutual recognition to function properly.
Several steps have been taken or are proposed to address this shortcoming. The prime example in this light is the EU Roadmap on criminal procedural rights, which aims to create a level playing field of fundamental rights, criminal procedural rights more specifically, in order to enhance mutual trust. Other efforts to enhance trust have been taken, such as harmonising substantive criminal law and training of professionals.
This paper will explore what role a principle of mutual trust can play in balancing the various interests at stake in EU criminal justice cooperation, that is mainly prosecutorial efficiency versus fundamental rights. Mutual trust can enhance cooperation by creating the basis for Member States to rely on a minimum level of procedural quality throughout the EU, while at the same time it can improve the position of the individual by ensuring compliance with individual rights.