Eu Standards In Witness Protection And Collaboration With Justice

This book presents the results of a study conducted for the European Commission, aimed at preparing legislative European initiative in the areas of both procedural and non-procedural witness protection and collaboration with justice. Already the March 2000 Strategy for the beginning of the new millennium, on the prevention and control of organised crime, had called for such initiative. The book 'EU standards on witness protection and collaboration with justice' contains well-balanced proposals for three new framework decisions regarding respectively anonymous witnesses, collaborators with justice and protected witnesses. This book is essential reading for policy makers, judicia (and law enforcement authorities throughout the European Union or from a broader international context. lt wilt be appealing also to researchers and anyone involved or taking an interest in witness or victim protection and/or combating (cross-border) crime at European or international level.

In order to combat terrorism, states often rely on the testimony of people who are closely connected to terrorist groups and who are more vulnerable than others to the use of intimidation against them or against people close to them. This may endanger the success of prosecutions often based on long and complicated investigations. Strengthening international co-operation in this field is also a useful means to ensure the protection of those persons whose protection would prove difficult on a merely national basis, given the conditions in the country where they are located. The Council of Europe has extensive experience in this area, based on existing European conventions and other standards. On that basis, and having drawn up a survey of national laws and practice in member and observer states, the Council of Europe has drawn up a new standard, Recommendation Rec(2005)9 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the protection of witnesses and collaborators of justice, which is the subject of this publication.

Witnesses play a crucial role in the investigation, prosecution and adjudication of serious and organised crimes, and a range of protection measures are needed to ensure that witnesses can testify freely and without intimidation and receive protection before, during and after trial. This publication contains recently adopted Council of Europe and other standards in this field, as well as a compendium of national laws and practices in the countries which participated in the joint Council of Europe and European Commission CARPO regional police project from 2004 to 2006.

In the European Union, international cooperation in criminal matters has grown exponentially over the past few decades. Importantly, there are a wide variety of authorities involved therein, rendering the traditional distinction between police and judicial cooperation as 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 contributors of this book 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 overview of the currently experienced obstacles and future policy options that are both needed and feasible. Over 150 individuals from different backgrounds contributed to the study, including academics, lawyers, policy makers, police, customs, intelligence services, prosecution, judiciary, correctional authorities, Ministries of Justice, and Home Affairs. The book provides an overview of the research findings and the recommendations formulated. These findings include, but are not limited to: (1) a helicopter view on cooperation with criminal justice finality, (2) a clear demarcation of the role of the judicial authorities, (3) a comprehensive review of refusal grounds, including proportionality and capacity concerns, (4) an assessment of gaps in the current body of instruments regulating international cooperation in criminal matters and possible remedies thereto, (5) a well-considered further development of Eurojust, and (6) ensuring EU wide effect of mere domestic actions. This book represents the first overall analysis of the entirety of international cooperation in criminal matters in the EU. As essential reading, it is an analysis that moves beyond the actors, bringing logic back, footed in reality. (Series: Institute for International Research on Criminal Policy [IRCP] - No. 42)

EU and International Crime Control focuses on intrinsic EU criminal policy aspects, including its transatlantic cooperation with the US. Additionally, the book examines anti-money laundering control, counter-strategies of criminal organizations, and police torture. Chapters include: Appreciating Approximation: Using Common Offense Concepts to Facilitate Police and Judicial Cooperation in the EU * Approximation and Mutual Recognition of Procedural Safeguards of Suspects and Defendants in Criminal Proceedings throughout the European Union * Shaping the Competence of Europol: An FBI Perspective * Towards a Coherent EU Policy on Outgoing Data Transfers for Use in Criminal Matters? The Adequacy Requirement and the Framework Decision on Data Protection in Criminal Matters: A Transatlantic Exercise in Adequacy * The International Private Security Industry as Part of the European Union Security Framework: A Critical Assessment of the French EU Presidency White Paper * The Anti-Money Laundering Complex on a Crime Control Continuum: Perceptions of Risk, Power and Efficacy * The Use of Counterstrategies by Criminal Organizations: 'Intimidation and the Use of Violence against Police Officers' * Police Torture in China and Its Causes.

This book examines the concept of witness protection which is still at an early developmental stage in several African countries including Nigeria, from a legal and institutional perspective. Recent developments in Nigeria highlight the need to clarify legal and conceptual issues within the existing legal framework for protecting witnesses. Using the Nigerian case study, the book illustrates some obscurities inherent in the concept of witness protection. These are highlighted around five critical areas: the definition of witness protection; the scope of beneficiaries requiring protection; the nature of crimes necessitating protection; the nature of protective measures; and the administrative control of witness protection. Specifically, this book draws from the existing literature and practices of witness protection and adopts two distinct perspectives: the criminal justice perspectives and human rights perspectives as heuristic tools for analysing the concept and to separate the disparate influences that shape how it is construed. These distinctions are utilised throughout the book as an integrated way of conceptualising the concept of witness protection. By discussing the practice of witness protection within the Nigerian context, the book contributes to African conversations on the topic of witness protection. The clarifications made in this book are utilised in making normative proposals for developing a legal framework for witness protection in Nigeria. They are also useful for other African countries interested in developing a witness protection framework as part of criminal justice reform. This book will serve as a reference point for legal scholars, researchers, academics, (postgraduate) students and policy makers interested in the concept of witness protection. It would also be useful for courses ‘concerned with comparative criminology where there is an interest in developments in the Global South.’

The EU Level Offence Classification System (EULOCS) brings together the current EU substantive criminal law acquis, building essentially on offence definitions referred to in legal instruments included in the EU Justice and Home Affairs (EU JHA) acquis. In doing so, EULOCS clarifies the scope between EU competence and national sovereignty with regard to defining criminal behavior. With this book, EULOCS is bench-marked as a reference index for serving various needs in the broader EU criminal policy area, having the potential to significantly enhance the internal coherence thereof. The proposed reference index, with offence definitions inherent to it, fundamentally addresses the problem created by the organic elaboration and adoption of legal instruments at the EU level, making reference to certain offence categories the scope or definition whereof is most often either not clarified or indicated, or left to the discretion of the individual Member States. Before elaborating on the creation of EULOCS - the methodology used, its main characteristics, and the potential for further development in the coming years - this book contains a brief overview of the incoherence in the EU JHA field and a reference to the EU study to implement the Action Plan to measure crime and criminal justice, conducted for the European Commission in the course of 2008-2009, in the context of which EULOCS has been created. Most importantly, the full EULOCS, with all its complementary variables and context fields, has been inserted. This book is essential reading for EU policy makers, judicial and law enforcement authorities throughout the Union, as well as those in a broader international context. It will be particularly appealing also to the research community and anyone involved in or taking an interest in justice and home affairs or criminal policy initiatives in the EU.

The beginning of the twenty-first century has seen a resurgence of terrorist attacks on a scale previously unimaginable. In response, the Council of Europe has examined key areas in which it could contribute to the international community¿s efforts in the fight against terrorism and identified the protection of witnesses and collaborators of justice as one of its priorities. In order to combat terrorism, states often rely on the testimony of people who are closely connected to terrorist groups and who are more vulnerable than others to the use of intimidation against them or against people close to them. This may endanger the success of prosecutions often based on long and complicated investigations. Strengthening international co-operation in this field is also a useful means to ensure the protection of those persons whose protection would prove difficult on a merely national basis, given the conditions in the country where they are located. The Council of Europe has extensive experience in this area, based on existing European conventions and other standards. This publication contains the recently adopted standards in this field as well as a survey of national laws and practice in Council of Europe member and observer states together with an analytical report.