Parties to the Charter.

The transnational gathering and use of criminal evidence is a complex and sensitive matter that affects basic principles inherent in national criminal justice systems. Replacing the mutual assistance regime (letters rogatory) by a mutual recognition regime intends to facilitate the admissibility of evidence obtained from the territory of another Member State. How much harmonization of criminal procedure is needed to guarantee the free movement of criminal evidence in the EU? Do we have to develop common procedural safeguards in the EU, or can we build in human rights clauses or procedural public order clauses by which respect for fundamental rights can be a ground for the non-recognition, non-execution or postponement of the order from the issuing state? John Vervaele is Professor in Economic and Financial Criminal Law at the University of Utrecht and Professor in European Criminal Law at the College of Europe of Bruges. The main topics in his research field are: enforcement of Union law; standards of due law, procedural safeguards and human rights; criminal law and procedure an regional integration; comparative economic and financial criminal law. He has realized a lot of research in these areas, both for Dutch Departments and European Institutions and also worked as a consultant for them.

Opposite pages bear duplicate numbering. - Parallel texts in English and French

Following the Treaty of Lisbon, The European Council has been given the power to adopt and implement an internal security strategy. it did so in March 2010, and this was followed in November by a Commission communication setting out the priorities, and how to implement them. The communication sets out five steps towards a more secure Europe: The disruption of international crime networks, The prevention of terrorism, security in cyberspace, improved border management, and increased resilience to crises and disasters. Of these cyber-security is a comparative newcomer and it is now clear that it can lead to massive disruption of state infrastructure, and can be used for espionage, terrorism, even war. As such, much of the evidence received concerned the role which the EU might play in fighting cyber-attacks. The Commission's main proposal is to set up a new Cybercrime Centre. This might be no more than a talking shop, but it could become a useful tool for investigating and analysing past attacks, improving law enforcement and preventing future attacks. Much will depend on whether it is given adequate resources. The Committee looked at the implementation of the strategy and at the way in which it overlaps with national and international strategies, In the hope that they can be mutually supportive. The Council has a new committee, which, under the Treaties, has the duty of coordinating all the work on internal security. Unless it does so effectively very little can be achieved; if it properly fulfils its mandate, The EU may play a valuable role in protecting the security of its citizens.