Policing the European Arrest Warrant: An empirical study of a transnational policing tool

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The PhD thesis explores the police role in the operation of the European Arrest Warrant (EAW). It is the product of extensive field research which took place in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland (all three legal jurisdictions in the UK), as well as Ireland, Poland and Spain. The thesis theorises the EAW as a transnational policing tool, as well as a tool of judicial cooperation, which is how it is popularly conceived. By mapping the complex police processes involved in issuing, receiving and executing warrants the thesis demonstrates that the police play a crucial role and argues that conceptualising the EAW as a policing tool offers a more complete view of the system. The thesis contributes to transnational policing theories adding much needed empirical evidence to develop descriptive accounts of the complex and overlapping power structures that characterise the cross-border policing field. The fellowship aims to prepare the researcher for a long-term academic research career. This will be achieved by consolidating the PhD research and maximising its impact through publications, presentations at academic and professional conferences and through stakeholder workshop events. The programme of activities aims to establish a track record of sole-authored, high-impact publications that engage with relevant academic and professional audiences. It creates opportunities for the researcher to build academic and professional networks and to test and develop ideas for future research. The researcher will also gain relevant teaching experience, delivering a core undergraduate module and will gain a qualification in Teaching for Higher Education. Finally, the researcher will develop a funding proposal for future research following on from the PhD work and the workshop activities in this programme. The networking opportunities will allow the researcher to re-connect with relevant stakeholders and build support for access to conduct this future research. The proposal for further research will build on one of the tentative conclusions of the PhD that questions whether the foundations of trust between policing actors differ from those between judicial or political actors and invites a detailed empirical exploration of the role that trust plays in cross-border police cooperation.The PhD thesis and proposals for future research have the potential to influence criminal justice policy and law enforcement practice across the EU. Brexit represents a unique opportunity both to maximise the impact of the PhD conclusions and to develop and undertake new research to explore the role that trust plays in supporting cooperation where formal political relations are unstable. As the UK leaves the EU and renegotiates the legal basis for criminal justice cooperation with its European partners the PhD research can assist policy makers to identify key features of the EAW that the parties may seek to replicate. At the same time, the UK is restructuring the domestic arrangements for policing extradition and the PhD and policy report provide detailed comparative accounts of the processes that local police forces have in place. This work can help policy makers and policy leaders identify best practices and pitfalls of the existing systems, providing valueable guidance to be used when establishing a national unit.