Re-Balancing Security and Justice: Protection of Fundamental Rights in Police and Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters

In police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters within the EU, security seems to take precedence over justice. This article addresses the question of whether recent developments in the EU, and especially the adoption of the Roadmap to procedural safeguards and the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, will lead to a re-balancing of security and justice. The conclusion is that the scope of the Roadmap is too limited and more a duplication of what is covered by the ECHR. It therefore does not fill the procedural rights gap in police and judicial cooperation in the EU that currently exists. If the EU legislature does not fill this gap, it is to be hoped that the European Court of Justice will continue to play its role as the guardian of fundamental rights.