Developing a Criminal Justice Area in the European Union

Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law, 2021

The articles in this special issue consider the institutional foundations of the Union’s criminal policy – a highly critical question for the future development of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice. The ratification of the Lisbon Treaty and the subsequent legal and political developments have entailed an unprecedented reinforcement of the powers of the EU’s criminal justice agencies Europol, Eurojust and, recently, the establishment of a novel criminal justice body – the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. On the basis of the Treaty mandate, the EU legislator has adopted important reforms such as the EPPO Regulation, and new Europol and Eurojust regulations. In light of these developments, this special issue explores via a multi-disciplinary investigation the extent to which the increased competences of the EU and the stronger presence of EU criminal justice agencies have transformed EU criminal law from an ‘intergovernmental’ regime to a ‘supranational’ and ‘integrated’ fr...

Juridical Analytical Journal, 2021

The criminal jurisdictions of the European Community and subsequently the European Union began to develop as subsidiary competencies aimed at protecting economic and industry policies established by the founding treaties. Their development has pointed to the necessity of using forced measures for the preventing abuse and countering criminal activities in the area of the customs union and the common market. This paper presents the gradual transfer of limited criminal jurisdictions from the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice and communitarian law into the contractual competences of the European Union with an explicit legal basis after the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon. Using the teleological method, the method of the content analysis (of the legal norms) and the comparative method the paper emphasizes examples of using criminal jurisdictions within the framework of communitarian law, the delimitation of competencies between the EU and the EC, and the changes mad...

2021

For years the European Union has been concerned about the quality of legislation and better regulation. This has been observed for a long time in various programmatic and working documents of the different EU institutions. It aims to fighting against the criticisms of over-legislation, excessive bureaucracy and obsolescence of European legislation, which undermine the credibility of the Union itself. On the other hand, this concern is also due to a sincere attempt to achieve better norms that harmonise or unify the Member States’ legislation. In recent times this interest has also focused on the criminal norms elaborated in the area of Freedom, Security and Justice.

FORVM Acta Juridica et Politica ISSN 2063-2525 Szeged, Hungary, 2020, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3539805, 2020

In this study, I summarized the short development of European criminal policy and its main, generally considered to be valid criteria. My aim is for us to understand the characteristics and speciality of European criminal policy, in contrast to our national criminal policy, primarily of course, the differences, because these are the novelties that that can free criminal policy from the agenda and aims of actual- and party politics. By this, they serve as assurance that criminal policy always be active based on a professional basis, as an effective tool for realistic aims, Europe-wide control of crime.

Helsingin yliopisto, 2020

2019

Specialized Administrative Law of the European Union - A Sectoral Treatment , 2019

This book chapter (co-authored with Valsamis Mitsilegas) analyses the administrative dimension of European Criminal law. Emphasis is placed on agencies, bodies and transnational networks in this context, as well as administrative procedures.

Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov. Series VII: Social Sciences • Law

With regard to crime, unceasing efforts are being made at the European Union level, in the context in which the war in Ukraine has given the offenders new levers to use. Equally at present, as always in the past, the conflict situations generate criminality, and its development becomes significant when the stake is high. Both the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian military aggression against Ukraine created networks for offenders as well as a suitable ground to relate to. Human trafficking, cyberattacks, online fraud, embezzlement of funds intended for refugees, and gun trafficking are threats for which the European Union established its priorities in the fight against organized crime.

2011

The 'Europeanisation' of the fight against crime is a broad and much-contested notion. This in-depth analysis of the role of the EU in fighting crime within the area of freedom, security and justice explores the impact of EU policies in the Member States, the progressive convergence of Member States' criminal law systems, the emergence of mutual recognition as an alternative to harmonization, and the incremental development of the ECJ's jurisdiction. The essays also explore the limitations inherent in EU counter-crime policies and the changes brought about by the introduction of the Treaty of Lisbon. These changes are discussed both collectively and within individual substantive areas in which the EU has taken an active role in fighting crime, such as corruption, money laundering, terrorism, organised crime and extradition.

Same as European Union Law, that presents a new area of law and that it is still in progress, the Criminal Law EU, as part of thanks, of course, also it is developing, and we can freely say, just its doors are open to development within the Europe Union. Undoubtedly, the developments within the European Union have become imperative of time and the development of criminal law of the European Union. The development of this area, of course, is dictated by the development of European Law itself, or says the right, the European Union itself. Depending on it, the European Union will be such a supranational structure of what else is now, or will undergo changes and become a Federal State, or another form more unified, obviously, will change the legislation. Taking into consideration the importance of this area of law, and necessity, which is created for cooperation among states to combat organized crime, and especially terrorism, certainly in the near future we can have a Criminal Code European and a European code of Criminal Procedure, namely, a codification of European criminal field. The European Union continued on his journey, has evolved unification of his legislation, therefore, and has a reason to believe that the criminal justice field may be unique in the European Union. In this paper, it is discussed the development of European criminal law, starting with birth and its historical development, until the last treaty of the European Union, the Treaty of Lisbon.

EU criminal law and crime policy in the past decade have evolved towards a cooperation regime facilitating cross-border proceedings and increasing effectiveness of criminal justice. As part of judicial cooperation in criminal matters, EU Member States have developed various collaborative projects aiming to strengthen and widen the scope of cross-border prevention and fight against transnational crime. With the Treaty of Lisbon, the field of judicial cooperation in criminal matters and law enforcement has acquired enhanced capabilities to make the Union more effective in tackling the problem of cross-border criminal activities. The shift from locus regit actum principle to forum regit actum principle, epitomised in EU legal instruments relevant to judicial cooperation in criminal matters, made Member States aware of utility of intergovernmental settings for their legal and normative regulations and encouraged EU institutions, particularly the Commission, for launching proposals which pretended to enlarge the scope of EU judicial cooperation.

2014

This manifesto is rooted in the common tradition of European enlightenment. Its authors act in recognition of the fact that the spirit of enlightenment is the major contributor to and the driving force behind European civilisation and current integration, and that it should provide guidance for the preservation of European culture and future cooperation between Member States. In particular, the laws of criminal procedure and mutual legal assistance, which recently have increasingly been shaped by Union legislation, must adhere to the highest standards of the rule of law and must continuously guarantee fundamental rights, notwithstanding the fact that in this area of law various interests of states, societies and individuals have to be balanced. Being aware that effective criminal justice is a basic prerequisite for peaceful coexistence in any society, the undersigned emphasise that the inevitable clash with the fundamental rights of those persons against whom the proceeding is condu...

2012

International cooperation in criminal matters in the European Union has grown exponentially over the past few decades. Importantly, there is a wide variety of authorities involved therein, rendering the traditional distinction between police and judicial cooperation outdated. Furthermore, its rapid growth exposed this policy field to inconsistencies and incoherence. Additionally despite the wave of new legislation, important lacunae can be identified, setting important challenges for the future. The combination of these issues clarifies the title of this book: there is a pressing need to rethink international cooperation in criminal matters. In answer to a call from the European Commission, the authors have designed a comprehensive methodological framework to review the entirety of international cooperation in criminal matters, combining desktop reviews, expert consultations, member state questionnaires and focus group meetings in each of the member states to obtain a comprehensive ...

Eurojust, set up in 2002, is the first European agency devoted exclusively to judicial cooperation. It is a multilateral organisation with a Prosecutor-Magistrate appointed from the legal system of each EU Member State; together, they are charged with promoting cooperation among the national jurisdictions of the European Union. From an institutional point of view, the main purpose of the agency is to cement its position as an essential actor in European cooperation between national as well as supranational bodies. This article begins by examining the resources mobilised by Eurojust's Prosecutor-Magistrates and the institutional constraints placed on their action. It goes on to ask whether, based on observation of the unit's day-to-day work, there are indications that it is creating a common legal culture. In other words, how can the Prosecutor-Magistrates of Eurojust acknowledge cultural diversity amongst Member State legal systems while simultaneously pursuing the goals of European cooperation? Their beliefs and practices are the focal point of our analysis, allowing us to directly examine the practical dimensions of legal cooperation in criminal matters. We interviewed Eurojust Prosecutor-Magistrates, some of them several times, between March 2001 and early 2011; we also studied the work of their counterparts in national jurisdictions who cooperated on cases with Eurojust. It is essential to take the national level into account here to reveal the ambivalent relationship between EU criminal law and the Member States' legal systems. We have therefore used sociological analysis of the individual and collective actions of these key legal professionals to assess the extent to which Eurojust exemplifies the increasing Europeanisation of legal culture.