Fundamental Rights in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice

This Chapter analyzes the development of fundamental rights in the European Union. First, the general development in the autonomous legal order from the rights protected by the Court of Justice to the legally binding Charter is discussed. Account is also taken of the accession of the Union to the ECHR and the new institutional developments (Fundamental Rights Agency and Commission’s position) in the new post-Treaty of Lisbon framework. In the final part the particular fundamental rights problems arising from the mutual recognition and mutual trust used in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice are analyzed. This analysis is based on the reservations expressed by the national courts in relation to the European Arrest Warrant and the recent case law of the European Court of Human Rights in relation to the Common European Asylum System.