European Arrest Warrant: Procedural Instrument for Public Order Enforcement in the EU’s Area of Freedom, Security and Justice

Abstract:     
The European Union has been striving to create a common area of freedom, security and justice, within which EU citizens are to enjoy a high level of personal safety and security. Today, the EU offers its citizens an area without internal borders, within which the free movement of persons is guaranteed, coupled with corresponding measures in the area of external border controls, asylum and immigration policy, and preventing and fighting crime. This concept was introduced in reflection of the view that the tasks of maintaining public order, internal peace and security are distributed between the member states and the European Union. The flip side of the coin of the free movement of persons is the free movement of those who disturb the public order, of perpetrators of crime, etc. Needless to say, the European Union must have means available of bringing those to justice who violate the rules of public order or engage in criminal activities. Cooperation on the European level has given rise to procedural means of enforcing such rules: the European arrest warrant, which represents a key development toward the enforcement of public law and order in fighting cross-border crime across the European Union.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 16

Keywords: European arrest warrant, European Union, public order enforcement, area of freedom, security and justice, mutual recognition of judicial decisions, implementation

JEL Classification: K33, K14

Accepted Paper Series