Judicial Control of the Prosecutors’ Activities in the Light of the ECHR
eucrim. The European Criminal Law Association' Forum 2014, nr 2, s. 60-63.
This article is a revised English version of a paper presented by the author at the conference “Le contrôle judiciaire du Parquet européen. Nécessité, modèles, enjeux,” which took place in Paris on 9–10 April 2014.
The judicial control of the activities of prosecutors within criminal proceedings constitutes an important issue in every legal system. It is particularly important at the pre-trail stage of proceedings, when the prosecutor is responsible for many actions, and of lesser importance at the judicial stage of the proceedings, when the court takes over. However, the issue of judicial control of prosecutors’ actions may warrant special attention once the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (hereinafter the “EPPO”) is established. When it comes to prosecutorial actions, the EPPO will be subjected to the control of the national courts. Therefore, it will be necessary to define the framework of the judicial control of the EPPO’s activities executed by national courts.
It seems obvious that in every legal system, with its specificities and traditions, the legal framework regarding the judicial control of prosecutors’ actions within criminal proceedings may vary. For this reason, it becomes necessary to search for a common ground, rules that might be useful and applicable in every legal system. In Europe, it may be enlightening to examine the standards related to the judicial control of prosecutorial activities set forth by the European Court of Human Rights. It will be particularly informative to find answers to the following three questions that will be considered in this article – who controls prosecutors, what is controlled, and what should be the control.
