Mutual admissibility of evidence in criminal matters in the EU. A study of telephone tapping and house search. (IRCP-series, vol. 53)

Any effort to gather evidence may prove pointless without ensuring its

admissibility. Nevertheless, the EU, while developing instruments for

smooth gathering of evidence in criminal matters, is not taking much

effort to enhance its admissibility. Due to the lack of common rules in

this matter, gathering and use of evidence in the EU cross-border context

is still governed by the domestic law of the member states concerned. This

may lead to situations where, given the differences between legal systems

across the EU, evidence collected in one member state will not be

admissible in other member states. Due to the fact that the Lisbon Treaty

opened the possibility to adopt minimum rules concerning, among other

things, the mutual admissibility of evidence, this research investigates

the concept of minimum standards designed to enhance mutual admissibility

of evidence in the EU. Through a study of two investigative measures,

telephone tapping and house search, the author examines whether coming to

various common minimum standards is feasible and whether compliance with

these standards would finally shape the as yet nonexistent concept of the

free movement and mutual recognition of evidence in criminal matters in

the EU.

Essential reading for both national and EU policy makers, scholars and

practitioners involved in cross-border gathering of evidence in the EU.

Dr Martyna Kusak is a doctor of law and post-doctoral researcher at Chair of Criminal Procedure, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (Poland) and in the Institute for International Research on Criminal Policy, Ghent University (Belgium). She holds a double doctoral degree from Adam Mickiewicz University and Ghent University. In the academic year 2015/2016 she was awarded a scholarship by the Adam Mickiewicz Foundation in Poznań. This publication is the result of her research, carried out upon a co-tutelle doctoral programme and within project no. 2014/15/N/HS5/02686 granted by the National Science Center, Poland.