The balance between the protection of fundamental rights and the EU principle of mutual trust

Abstract

In 2013, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) was called to decide the Povse case, where the Bosphorus presumption was confronted with the principle of mutual trust and automatic recognition of judgments. These principles are a cornerstone of the EU policy of judicial cooperation in civil matters and are a decisive instrument to the construction of the area of freedom, security and justice. In 2016, in the Avotiņš case, again the ECtHR faced the application of the Bosphorus presumption and the mechanism of automatic recognition of decisions, and sounded a serious warning. The objective of this study is to analyze these decisions of the ECtHR and their possible future influence over the principle of mutual trust, namely the compatibility of the current system of mutual recognition established under EU law with the European Convention of Human Rights.