Over recent years, most of the criminal justice systems in Europe have
witnessed a tendency to enhance the role of pre-trial inquiries.
Different kinds of pre-trial measures have had a heavy impact on the
fundamental rights of individuals involved in criminal procedures. This
book contains a comparative study of four European countries on
pre-trial precautionary measures limiting personal liberty. This
comparison is part of two general frameworks concerning the ECtHR
case-law and the EU legislation in the field of the right to liberty and
security. In its two level approach, the book provides a critical guide
for understanding the most significant changes which occurred in the
area of liberty and security in the pre-trial phases of criminal
proceedings as well as the protection systems developed in Europe both
at national and supranational level to face the new challenges of the
modern criminal investigation.