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The Duty of Mutual Trust in EU Law and the Duty to Secure Human Rights : Can the EU's Accession to the ECHR Ease the Tension?

Gill-Pedro, Eduardo LU and Groussot, Xavier LU (2017) In Nordic Journal of Human Rights 35(3). p.258-274
Abstract

The principle of mutual trust has been a central pillar of the European integration project, first as a tool for market integration, and as the European Economic Community became the European Union, as a mechanism for a more wide ranging integration of the legal orders of the member states. The EU now has legislation in place which imposes obligations on member states to trust each other's civil and criminal justice systems, immigration and asylum law, and family law. But these obligations of trust imposed by EU law may conflict with obligations that member states have to secure the rights under the ECHR. Accession by the EU to the ECHR was supposed to resolve this conflict, but in its Opinion 2/13, the Court of Justice appeared to have... (More)

The principle of mutual trust has been a central pillar of the European integration project, first as a tool for market integration, and as the European Economic Community became the European Union, as a mechanism for a more wide ranging integration of the legal orders of the member states. The EU now has legislation in place which imposes obligations on member states to trust each other's civil and criminal justice systems, immigration and asylum law, and family law. But these obligations of trust imposed by EU law may conflict with obligations that member states have to secure the rights under the ECHR. Accession by the EU to the ECHR was supposed to resolve this conflict, but in its Opinion 2/13, the Court of Justice appeared to have dealt a fatal blow to this solution. This article explains the tension between the EU principle of mutual trust and the duty to secure ECHR rights. The article examines the most recent case law of the CJEU and the ECtHR in order to assess whether a resolution of this tension has been found, and whether the EU's accession to the ECHR will be possible.

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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Aranyosi and Caldararu, Avotins v Latvia, ECHR, EU Accession to the ECHR, EU Fundamental Rights, Mutual Trust, Opinion 2/13
in
Nordic Journal of Human Rights
volume
35
issue
3
pages
17 pages
publisher
Taylor & Francis
external identifiers
  • scopus:85029768673
ISSN
1891-8131
DOI
10.1080/18918131.2017.1355477
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
ae1f12da-6039-4daf-af04-7a6de70533f0
date added to LUP
2017-10-09 12:09:08
date last changed
2025-04-04 14:15:00
@article{ae1f12da-6039-4daf-af04-7a6de70533f0,
  abstract     = {{<p>The principle of mutual trust has been a central pillar of the European integration project, first as a tool for market integration, and as the European Economic Community became the European Union, as a mechanism for a more wide ranging integration of the legal orders of the member states. The EU now has legislation in place which imposes obligations on member states to trust each other's civil and criminal justice systems, immigration and asylum law, and family law. But these obligations of trust imposed by EU law may conflict with obligations that member states have to secure the rights under the ECHR. Accession by the EU to the ECHR was supposed to resolve this conflict, but in its Opinion 2/13, the Court of Justice appeared to have dealt a fatal blow to this solution. This article explains the tension between the EU principle of mutual trust and the duty to secure ECHR rights. The article examines the most recent case law of the CJEU and the ECtHR in order to assess whether a resolution of this tension has been found, and whether the EU's accession to the ECHR will be possible.</p>}},
  author       = {{Gill-Pedro, Eduardo and Groussot, Xavier}},
  issn         = {{1891-8131}},
  keywords     = {{Aranyosi and Caldararu; Avotins v Latvia; ECHR; EU Accession to the ECHR; EU Fundamental Rights; Mutual Trust; Opinion 2/13}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{07}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{258--274}},
  publisher    = {{Taylor & Francis}},
  series       = {{Nordic Journal of Human Rights}},
  title        = {{The Duty of Mutual Trust in EU Law and the Duty to Secure Human Rights : Can the EU's Accession to the ECHR Ease the Tension?}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/18918131.2017.1355477}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/18918131.2017.1355477}},
  volume       = {{35}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}