European criminal law is explained as a multi-level field of law, in which the European Union has a normative influence on substantive criminal law, criminal procedure and on the co-operation between Member States. This book aims to describe the contours of the emerging criminal justice system of the European Union and to present a coherent picture of the legislation enacted and the case law on European Union Level and its influence on national criminal law and criminal procedure. Among the topics and questions covered in this book are the following: What does mutual recognition mean in the context of the European Arrest Warrant? How can European Union law be invoked by an accused? When is the Charter of Fundamental Freedoms applicable in national criminal proceedings? These and other pertinent questions are dealt with on the basis of an-in-depth analysis of the case law of the Court of Justice and legislation. In addition, the book challenges the reader to assess the mutual (and sometimes conflicting) influence of European Union law and national criminal law respectively and explains how European Union law will usually prevail although national criminal law still remains relevant. The book covers a wealth of court decisions and legal instruments making European Criminal Law, written for practitioners, academics and students, an invaluable source for every European and criminal lawyer This second updated and extended edition covers all recent developments since the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009. Book jacket.

EU Criminal Law is perhaps the fastest-growing area of EU law. It is also one of the most contested fields of EU action, covering measures which have a significant impact on the protection of fundamental rights and the relationship between the individual and the State, while at the same time presenting a challenge to State sovereignty in the field and potentially reconfiguring significantly the relationship between Member States and the EU. The book will examine in detail the main aspects of EU criminal law, in the light of these constitutional challenges. These include: the history and institutions of EU criminal law (including the evolution of the third pillar and its relationship with EC law); harmonisation in criminal law and procedure (with emphasis on competence questions); mutual recognition in criminal matters (including the operation of the European Arrest Warrant) and accompanying measures; action by EU bodies facilitating police and judicial co-operation in criminal matters (such as Europol, Eurojust and OLAF); the collection and exchange of personal data, in particular via EU databases and co-operation between law enforcement authorities; and the external dimension of EU action in criminal matters, including EU-US counter-terrorism co-operation. The analysis is forward-looking, taking into account the potential impact of the Lisbon Treaty on EU criminal law.

For decades, the EU has developed a system of criminal justice consistent with the mixed (sometimes contradictory) tendencies embedded in its very own structure. The Lisbon Treaty consolidated some federal elements that have an impact on the future development of this area of law. The sovereign debt crisis of 2010 and its progeny have, if anything, consolidated the need for the federal protection of EU financial interests at the EU level. This book provides new insights in the federal dimension of these developments. Beginning with an analysis of the current state of affairs, the book also tackles the federalizing elements contained in such issues as the creation of a European banking supervision authority, the establishment of the European Prosecutor Office, or the enactment of a EU regulation containing the grounds rules of its functioning. Throughout, the reader will find constant references to the most efficient system of federal criminal law, i.e. the US system. This comparative law note serves the purpose of confirming the federal nature of what has been achieved so far at the EU level and providing guidelines for its future development. The basic contention is that such regulation and its enforcement at the EU level is a fundamental tool to achieve the goals that the EU has already set forth in the upcoming agenda. In a nutshell: although the EU is not a federal state, it has the same problems as if it were. Subject: European Law, Criminal Law, Comparative Law, Financial Law]

Although Article 23(5) of EU Regulation 1/2003 provides that competition law fines ‘shall not be of a criminal law nature’, this has not prevented certain criminal law principles from finding their way into European Union (EU) competition law procedures. Even more significantly, the deterrent effect of competition law fines has led courts in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (UK), as well as the European Court of Human Rights, to conclude that competition law proceedings can lead to a criminal charge. This book offers the first book-length study of whether courts do indeed apply criminal law principles in competition law proceedings and, if so, how these principles are adapted to the needs and characteristics of competition law. Focusing on competition law developments (both legislative and judicial) over a period of twenty years in three jurisdictions – the Netherlands, the UK and the EU – the author compares how each of the following (criminal law) principles has emerged and been interpreted in each jurisdiction’s proceedings: freedom from self-incrimination; non bis in idem; burden and standard of proof; legality and legal certainty; and proportionality of sanctions. The author offers proposals involving both legislative and judicial actions, with examples of judges invoking criminal law principles to develop an appropriate level of safeguards in competition law proceedings. The book shows that criminal law can provide a rich source of inspiration for the judiciary on the appropriate level of legal safeguards in competition law proceedings. As such, it provides an important source of information and guidance for lawyers and judges dealing with competition law matters. "The work is well argued and well researched. Indeed, it is almost encyclopaedic in its use and citation of case law and secondary material....This book provides a valuable resource for anyone (whether as advocate, investigator, adjudicator or academic researcher) who wishes to understand how these criminal law principles are used in, and to protect those subject to, administrative law-based competition investigations.” Bruce Wardhaugh (Lecturer at the University of Manchester) Common Market Law Review, 2021, vol 58, issue 1, page 236

. . . this book fills a significant gap in the English-language literature and must be read by all who seek to understand why profound reflection is needed on the theoretical underpinnings of EU criminal justice. Samuli Miettinen, Journal of Common Market Studies The book contains a number of interesting arguments and comments on the development of EU criminal law. . . the authors efforts to provide a generalist book in this ever-growing, increasingly important and still under-researched field of EU law must be welcomed. Valsamis Mitsilegas, The Edinburgh Law Review Today, EU criminal law and justice constitutes a significant body of law potentially affecting most aspects of criminal justice. This book provides a comprehensive, accessible yet analytically challenging account of the institutional and legal developments in this field to date. It also includes full consideration of the prospective changes to EU criminal law contained in the recent Lisbon Treaty . While, broadly speaking, the authors welcome the objectives of EU criminal law, they call for a profound rethinking of how the good of criminal justice however defined is to be delivered to those living in the EU. At present, despite sometimes commendable initiatives from the institutions responsible, the actual framing and implementation of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ) suffers from a failure to properly consider the theoretical implications of providing the good of criminal justice at the EU level. Written shortly before the recent entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, EU Criminal Law and Justice comprises a full overview of the key legal developments and debates and includes a user-friendly guide to the institutional changes contained in the Treaty. This timely book will be of interest to both undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as to legal practitioners and policy makers at national and EU levels.

This book takes stock of the development of criminal law in the context of the EC and the EU, and examines whether this has led to a European criminal policy, and interrogates the legal effects that European-level initiatives in the field have on national criminal law and on suspects.

The Oxford Handbook of Criminal Law reflects the continued transformation of criminal law into a global discipline, providing scholars with a comprehensive international resource, a common point of entry into cutting edge contemporary research and a snapshot of the state and scope of the field. To this end, the Handbook takes a broad approach to its subject matter, disciplinarily, geographically, and systematically. Its contributors include current and future research leaders representing a variety of legal systems, methodologies, areas of expertise, and research agendas. The Handbook is divided into four parts: Approaches & Methods (I), Systems & Methods (II), Aspects & Issues (III), and Contexts & Comparisons (IV). Part I includes essays exploring various methodological approaches to criminal law (such as criminology, feminist studies, and history). Part II provides an overview of systems or models of criminal law, laying the foundation for further inquiry into specific conceptions of criminal law as well as for comparative analysis (such as Islamic, Marxist, and military law). Part III covers the three aspects of the penal process: the definition of norms and principles of liability (substantive criminal law), along with a less detailed treatment of the imposition of norms (criminal procedure) and the infliction of sanctions (prison law). Contributors consider the basic topics traditionally addressed in scholarship on the general and special parts of the substantive criminal law (such as jurisdiction, mens rea, justifications, and excuses). Part IV places criminal law in context, both domestically and transnationally, by exploring the contrasts between criminal law and other species of law and state power and by investigating criminal law's place in the projects of comparative law, transnational, and international law.

This book deals with human rights in European criminal law after the Lisbon Treaty. Doubtless the Lisbon Treaty has constituted a milestone in the development of European criminal justice. Not only has the reform following the Treaty given binding force to the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, but furthermore it has paved the way for unprecedented forms of supranational legislation. In this scenario, the enforcement of individual rights in criminal matters has become a core goal of EU legislation. Alongside these developments, new interactions between national and supranational jurisprudences have emerged, which have significantly contributed to a human rights-oriented approach to European criminal law. The book analyses the main developments of this complex phenomenon from an interdisciplinary perspective. Criminal and procedural law, constitutional law and comparative law must thus be combined to achieve a full understanding of these developments and of their impact on national law.

Just a few months after the entry into force of the EU Framework Decision on the fight against organized crime, this book provides an unprecedented analysis of the national and European legislation on organized crime. The book provides a critical examination of the European policies and legal instruments to promote the harmonization and approximation of criminal law in this field (including the United Nations Convention on Transnational Organized Crime). The current level of harmonization among EU Member States and the approximation to the standards of the new Framework Decision are discussed in detail, with the help of tables, graphs and maps. The results highlight the problems surrounding the international legal instruments and the inconsistencies of the national approaches to combating organized crime.

This volume discusses EU criminal justice from three perspectives. The first concerns fundamental rights following the adoption of the directives that have progressively reinforced the cornerstone of procedural rights of suspects and defendants in national criminal proceedings in the EU member states so as to facilitate judicial cooperation. The second perspective relates to transnational criminal investigations and proceedings, which are seen as a cross section of the current state of judicial cooperation in the area of freedom, security and justice, with the related issues of efficiency, coordination, settlement of conflicts of jurisdiction, and guarantees. The third perspective concerns the development of a supranational justice system in the light of the recently established European Public Prosecutor’s Office, whose European judicial nature still coexists with strong national components.