Trust and Legitimacy in International Policing: The Case Study of EU and China

• In Event: Police-Community Relations in A Comparative Perspective

Abstract

While formal police cooperation frameworks have evolved in the European Union in recent years, police cooperation in Greater China still relies predominantly on informal police-to-police strategies similar to international cooperation mechanisms. This presentation explores whether formalisation of police cooperation is a result of legitimacy created by common human rights frameworks, or whether formalisation is itself needed to foster legitimacy between the cooperating agencies. It is furthermore discussed whether trust fosters legitimacy in the area of police cooperation or whether legitimacy can equally create trust. The two systems have been chosen because of the different levels of harmonisation of human rights frameworks among their jurisdictions. Different levels of influence of trust on the two different systems that both require internal law enforcement cooperation within them are determined. Finally the relationship between the EU and China in the area of police cooperation is explored by examining the existing cooperation mechanisms between them and the potential for a Europol strategic agreement with China. It will be determined whether the existence (or not) of trust can be linked to the concept of legitimacy and in particular whether the perception of an agency or system as legitimate influences the readiness to cooperate with it.

Author

• Saskia Hufnagel, Queen Mary University of London