DEFENCE RIGHTS AND POLICE INVESTIGATION IN EU

Abstract

The abolition of the European borders has benefited a large number of people, allowing ordinary European citizens to move freely around and within the European Union. This, however, means that criminal organizations and terrorist groups have also gained their “paradise”. Consequently, European attempts to combat crime had to overcome individual national actions by developing co-operation between the Member States. Police co-operation, as its integral part, was established on the bilateral and multilateral level. Nevertheless, the balance between strengthening of the police powers, on the one hand, and rights of individuals, on the other, has been disturbed.  Has the EU overstepped the line and infringed basic human rights and fundamental freedoms in particular considering right to privacy and defence of suspects? In order to find the answer the authors focused their work on the development of the police powers alongside the protection of the defendants’ rights concerning three levels, i.e. national level of Member States, bilateral co-operation and multilateral co-operation in EU.