Resumen de Mutual Trust Under Pressure: Civil Justice Cooperation in the EU and the Rule of Law

Monique Hazelhorst

• In recent years, widespread concerns have been expressed about some of the proposed reforms to the judicial system in Poland posing a risk to the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary in the country. The present contribution argues that the proposed reforms also threatens the mutual trust between EU Member States, which is the backbone of judicial cooperation in civil matters. It will show how mutual trust underpins the mutual recognition of judgments under various EU Regulations and discusses to what extent these regimes allow for exceptions to mutual recognition in case of fundamental rights concerns in the Member State of origin of a judgment. It is shown that the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) maintains a strict approach to such cases, allowing for exceptions only in extreme cases. The case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) is shown to be deferential to the authority of the CJEU in this regard.