The Quest for Proportionality for European Arrest Warrant and Fundamental Rights Protection in a Mutual Recognition Environment

The paper examines the impact of the principle of proportionality on the European Arrest Warrant (EAW). The only function of proportionality discussed here concerns the mutual recognition context. The argument is stated against the backdrop of over- emphasis of the principle of mutual recognition for the purpose of fast-track judicial cooperation in criminal matters to the detriment of fundamental rights protection. This paper explores the recent case law of the CJEU affirming the need to secure the operation of the mutual recognition and secondly the debate on overusing the instrument. It provides an analysis of the quest for a proportionality based approach in the context of mutual recognition where fundamental rights protection is competing with fast-track judicial cooperation