European Police And Criminal Law Co Operation Volume 5

This volume in the series Swedish Studies in European Law, produced by the Swedish Network for European Legal Studies, focuses on EU criminal law and transnational police co-operation. Against the background of the most important changes introduced by the Lisbon Treaty in the area of criminal law and police co-operation, this volume is divided into four main sections. Each section analyses some specific challenges. The first section includes a critical analysis of the boundaries of the new criminal law competencies, as well as some more general challenges for EU criminal law. Specific focus is set on the lawmaking process. The second section deals with EU criminal law and fundamental rights, in particular the protection of personal data and individual privacy. In this section, focus is on the implementation of EU law into national legal orders and the challenges that this process brings with it. The third section maps out specific challenges in transnational police co-operation, in particular, the important issue of sharing of information between law enforcement agencies and its potential impact on the protection of fundamental rights. In the fourth section, focus is shifted toward networks, horizontal agency and multi-level co-operation in a wider sense within the area of freedom, security and justice.

This volume in the series Swedish Studies in European Law, produced by the Swedish Network for European Legal Studies, focuses on EU criminal law and transnational police co-operation. Against the background of the most important changes introduced by the Lisbon Treaty in the area of criminal law and police co-operation, this volume is divided into four main sections. Each section analyses some specific challenges. The first section includes a critical analysis of the boundaries of the new criminal law competencies, as well as some more general challenges for EU criminal law. Specific focus is set on the lawmaking process. The second section deals with EU criminal law and fundamental rights, in particular the protection of personal data and individual privacy. In this section, focus is on the implementation of EU law into national legal orders and the challenges that this process brings with it. The third section maps out specific challenges in transnational police co-operation, in particular, the important issue of sharing of information between law enforcement agencies and its potential impact on the protection of fundamental rights. In the fourth section, focus is shifted toward networks, horizontal agency and multi-level co-operation in a wider sense within the area of freedom, security and justice.

The fight against today's new forms of criminality, across Europe and beyond, can only be won with the necessary tools and, in particular, highly effective international co-operation in criminal matters. This publication contains the text of key Council of Europe conventions on co-operation mechanisms relating to extradition, mutual legal assistance, the transfer of sentenced persons and the transfer of criminal proceedings; as well as conventions addressing specific forms of crime which have a cross-border dimension, such as cybercrime, money laundering, terrorism, trafficking in human beings and corruption.

One of the most dynamic areas of EU law since the great changes brought to the EU constitutional order by the Amsterdam Treaty in 1999 has been cooperation in the fields of policing and criminal justice. Both fields have already been the subject of substantial legislative effort in the EU and an increasing amount of judicial activity in the European Court of Justice. In 2007 - after the Constitutional Treaty of 2004 failed - the new Reform Treaty planned very substantive changes to these policies. Bringing together a wide-ranging set of topics and contributors, this book enables readers to understand these changes by examining three key questions: how did we get to the Reform Treaty; what have been - and still are - the key struggles in competence; and how do the changes fit into the transformation of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters in the EU?

This book looks at the past, present and possible future relationship between the EU and the UK in the fields of law enforcement and judicial cooperation in criminal matters. It examines successively the EU-UK relationship prior to 1 February 2020; the relationship during the transition period; the relationship after the end of the transition period. The book analyses the relevant provisions of the Withdrawal Agreement, the Political Declaration, of the EU and UK negotiating mandates and draft legal texts, and the state of play of the negotiations. It looks at the possible forms that the future cooperation can take and the likely areas, which might be covered, such as cooperation with Europol and Eurojust; criminal records; DNA, dactyloscopic and vehicle registration data; passenger name records; surrender procedures, and mutual legal assistance. It also analyses the overarching issues of protection of personal data and the future role of the Court of Justice of the EU. Finally, this book puts forward some ideas on the possible impact of Brexit on security cooperation within wider Europe and on the possible emergence in future of a European Security Union within wider Europe. The volume is aimed at practitioners and academics in European Studies, International Relations, and Law.

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)

Since the early 1990s, cross-border police and judicial cooperation has become a very important domain of the European Union. The Lisbon Treaty – if accepted by all the Member States – will certainly be a major stimulus to its further development in the field of internal security as well as in the field of external policy. In any event, the recent proposal for a new third comprehensive policy programme with regard to the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice – the so-called Stockholm Programme – foreshadows some of the changes the Brussels institutions and the Member States would like to embrace in the coming years. This book contains the contributions of scholars and practitioners to a conference on the future of police and judicial cooperation in the European Union that took place in November 2008 at Tilburg University. Referring to what has been achieved in this domain since the Treaty of Maastricht, these papers not only assess the proposals that have been put forward in successive policy documents relating to the Stockholm Programme, but they also pinpoint to the ongoing problems in the theory and practice of police and judicial cooperation within the European Union and to the ways in which these questions could best be solved.

This is the second edition of EU Criminal Law, which has become since its publication in 2009 a key point of reference in the field. The second edition is updated and substantially expanded, to take into account the significant growth of EU criminal law as a distinct legal field and the impact of the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty on European integration in criminal matters. The book offers a holistic and in-depth analysis of the key elements of European integration in criminal matters, including EU powers and competence to criminalise, the evolution of judicial co-operation under the principles of mutual recognition and mutual trust, EU action in the field of criminal procedure including legislation on the rights of the defendant and the victim, the evolving role of European bodies and agencies (such as Europol, Eurojust and the European Public Prosecutor's Office) in European criminal law, and the development of EU-wide surveillance and data gathering and exchange mechanisms. Several chapters are devoted to the external dimension of EU action in criminal matters (including transatlantic counter-terrorism cooperation and the impact of Brexit on EU Criminal Law) Throughout the volume, the constitutional and fundamental rights implications of European integration in criminal matters are highlighted. Covering all the key principles of EU law, with clear explanation and rigorous analysis, this will give scholars, students, policy makers and legal practitioners interested in the subject a strong understanding of this fascinating but sometimes complex field.