You Can’t Always Counterbalance What You Want

From the end of the last century until few years ago, the European Court on Human Rights steadily directed the development of criminal procedure in Europe toward a more harmonised (and due process oriented) supranational system. The States Parties to the Convention amended their domestic systems to align with the ECtHR case-law on several aspects (ne bis in idem, rights of the defendant, right to examine witnesses, trial in absentia, etc.). The EU – following the principles enshrined in the Treaties and in the Charter that acknowledges the primary relevance of the ECHR - heavily referred to the ECtHR findings in drafting its new directives on defence safeguards in criminal proceedings. Lastly, especially after the Lisbon Treaty entered into force, also the ECJ increasingly recalled the ECtHR case-law in its first decisions in the field of criminal justice