The Freezing of Property or Evidence in Criminal Proceedings in the European Union

• Main Author: Ángel Tinoco Pastrana
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidad de Deusto 2015-04-01
• Series: Cuadernos Europeos de Deusto
• Subjects: embargo preventivo; prueba; reconocimiento mutuo; orden europea de investigación
• Online Access: http://ced.revistas.deusto.es/article/view/937
• ISSN: 1130-8354; 2445-3587

<p>The present essay reviews the progress achieved in the functioning of one of the first instruments of mutual recognition which intended to create, in the field of property and evidences in criminal proceedings, a similar system to the free movement within the European Union. Nevertheless, it has had a limited success as a result of its overlapping with other instruments, its coexistence with the traditional instruments of cooperation and its limited practical scope, without forgetting that one of the main concerns at stake is the lack of a unified judicial decision. The 23/2014 Spanish Act on mutual recognition of judicial decisions in criminal matters in the European Union, is an interesting codification in this area aiming at solving most of the interpretative problems arising from the first Acts of transposition. Currently we have to rethink the scope of the principle of mutual recognition, after the adoption of the innovative and ambitious Directive 2014/41/EU. The Directive creates the European Investigation Order in criminal matters, a unified judicial decision with a broad spectrum of application, and under a new perspective of the application of the mentioned principle that partly restricts it, with a view to prioritizing the protection of fundamental rights.</p><p><strong>Received</strong>: 29 September 2014<br /> <strong>Accepted</strong>: 27 January 2015<br /><strong>Published online</strong>: 15 April 2016</p>