The strengthening of the catalogue of fundamental human rights which we have witnessed since the adoption of the Charter of Fundamental Rights at the European Council in Nice in 2000 eliminates the differences in the conception and interpretation of the procedural rights of individuals involved in criminal proceedings throughout the European Union. As the status of parties to criminal proceedings is based primarily on whether the proceedings are inquisitorial or adversarial, it seems quite logical that any new or changed quantity of fundamental procedural rights will affect their very structural basis. Therefore, the theoretical premise has been raised that the European Union is following a path that will blur the differences between adversarial and inquisitorial proceedings in Member States through the unification of the catalogue of fundamental rights of parties to criminal proceedings, which equates the defendant (the accused) with the applicant in inquisitorial proceedings, and also strengthens the executive functions of public authorities in adversarial proceedings. The human rights dimension thus seems to be a more robust unifying element of criminal law (especially criminal proceedings) than the organizational or structural dimension.