Resumen de The European Arrest Warrant in a context of distrust: Is the Court taking rights seriously?

Ermioni Xanthopoulou

• During a time of distrust towards some Member States, the position of fundamental rights whenexecuting a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) has been strengthened. The article considers whetherthe European Court of Justice (ECJ) is now‘taking rights seriously’as regards the EAW. To this end,it employs a theoretical and contextual approach that supports a comprehensive analysis of case-law. First, the article borrows from a theory of rights as trumps and observes that rights are no lon-ger treated as norms with no special force that are in the way of cooperation interests. Second, thearticle offers a contextual exegesis of this trajectory, by mapping drivers of distrust and evaluatingtheir impact on the position of rights. Through contextualisation, it is argued that distrust, althoughlimited by its circumstances, has offered a compelling opportunity for the ECJ to take rights seri-ously, paving the way forward for future case-law.