European Investigation Order As a New Instrument of Judicial Cooperation Between Member States in Criminal Cases With a Special Focus on Croatian Law

Ulazak u Europsku uniju za Republiku Hrvatsku značio je posve novo razdoblje u njezinu povijesnom i društvenom razvoju. Na području kaznenog prava to je podrazumijevalo implementaciju i harmonizaciju niza instituta kojima je cilj olakšati postupanje pravosudnih tijela i njihovu suradnju u kaznenim predmetima između država članica. U pet godina učinjeni su određeni koraci na tom putu. Međutim, osim analize učinjenog u ovom je razdoblju vrlo važno upozoriti i na otvorena pitanja čija praktična implikacija tek slijedi. Stoga je cilj rada uputiti na institut europskoga istražnog naloga koji je u hrvatsko kazneno zakonodavstvo, u skladu s Direktivom 2014/41/EU Europskog parlamenta i Vijeća od 3. travnja 2014. godine o europskom istražnom nalogu u kaznenim stvarima, uveden Zakonom o izmjenama i dopunama Zakona o pravosudnoj suradnji u kaznenim stvarima s državama članicama Europske unije u listopadu 2017. godine, a novi je institut u pravnim sustavima i drugih država članica. Europski je istražni nalog nakon implementacije europskoga uhidbenog naloga nastavak nastojanja harmonizirana djelovanja pravosudnih tijela država članica Europske unije u kaznenom postupku u cilju pribavljanja dokaza istražnim mjerama. Premda njegove implikacije tek slijede, radom se prikazuju prednosti njegova uvođenja i nedostatci koji proizlaze iz tumačenja pojedinih zakonskih odredaba i stavova kaznenopravne javnosti.The accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union opened a whole new era in its historical and social development. In the area of criminal law, this involves the implementation and harmonization of a number of institutes aimed at facilitating the treatment of judicial organs and their cooperation in criminal cases between Member States. Over a period of five years, certain steps have been taken in this direction. However, in addition to analyzing the results achieved in this period, it is very important to point to open questions whose practical implications will be discussed. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to point to the institute of European Investigation Order, which was introduced in Croatian criminal legislation by the Act on Amendments of the Law on Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters with the Member States of the European Union of October 2017 in accordance with Directive 2014/41 / EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of April 3th 2014 on a European Investigation Order in Criminal Matters, which is a new institute in the legal systems of other Member States. Following the implementation of the European Arrest Warrant, the European Investigation Order is a continuation of the efforts to harmonize activities of judicial organs of EU Member States in criminal proceedings with the aim of obtaining evidence through investigative measures. Although its implications will be seen in the future, the paper discusses all the advantages of its introduction and the deficiencies that arise from the interpretation of certain legal provisions by criminal law scholars