Arrest warrants and fundamental rights. The boundary between punishment and enforcement methods and the principle of legality in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, within and beyond Brexit

Abstract

Starting from the recent Alchaster II judgment of the Court of Justice, the contribution analyses the scope of the principle of legality in criminal matters and the distinction between the concept of punishment and that of the execution of the punishment in EU law, specifically within the framework of judicial cooperation in criminal matters between the EU and the United Kingdom after Brexit. The judgment offers an opportunity to reflect on the protection granted to individuals in the context of cooperation between the Union and a third country, on the respect for fundamental rights, and on the extent of the assessment of such respect in the framework of a surrender procedure. Finally, the article explores the interactions, similarities, and differences between the interpretation of Article 7 ECHR in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and that of Article 49(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights by the Court of Justice