Transnational inquiries and the protection of fundamental rights in comparative law. Models of gathering overseas evidence in criminal matters

The present study compares the approach of ten national legal systems, both inside and outside Europe, to cross-border investigations and transnational evidence from a human rights perspective. The comparison has been carried out by combining the experiences of the selected countries with three international levels, that is, UN, Council of Europe and EU law. Against this framework, the discussion focuses on two main modes of overseas investigations, i.e., legal assistance and extraterritorial investigations. Within these two areas, this research examines the main tools of cross-border cooperation developed in the systems of both mutual legal assistance (MLA) and mutual recognition (MR). This study follows the method of functional comparison and examines whether and how the selected legal orders succeed in carrying out efficient forms of transnational criminal investigations by preventing both sovereignty and human rights violations