This book starts from the observation that criminal law is different in each of the EU's Member States: (1) what constitutes as an offense in one Member State does not necessarily constitute as an offense in another member state; (2) where offenses are equally criminalized in all Member States, the sanction levels may still vary; and (3) more generally, the position of the offenses in the entirety of the justice system may vary. The question arises: to what extent are those so-called offense diversities an obstacle for EU policy making and to what extent is it feasible to overcome those obstacles? The book underpins the need for the development of an EU offense policy, using the common criminalization acquis as a center piece. It argues that the common criminalization acquis can help: to ensure comparability of crime statistics * to avoid redundant double criminality testing * to overcome evidence gathering difficulties * to clarify the mandates of the EU level actors * to identify the equivalent national sentence * to scope the taking account of prior convictions. The only condition: the development of a comprehensive, consistent, and well-balanced EU offense policy. This book contains the conclusions of author Wendy De Bondt's publication-based doctoral thesis defended at Ghent University in June 2012. It will be essential reading for policy makers, both at the national and European level, in any policy field that is linked to offenses.

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of authorities involved therein, rendering the traditional distinction between police and judicial cooperation as outdated.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)

Recent years have been characterised by growing awareness among European member states about serious shortcomings to the way organised crime is measured and assessed. Currently, organised crime reports primarily generate descriptive analyses of a past situation based on law enforcement data and do not always provide the necessary information for proactive and preventive policy strategies. Therefore an EU Action Plan has been issued to develop a more future oriented and risk based methodology for the measurement of organised crime and to convert the traditional organised crime situation reports into strategic reports for planning purposes. This book is the outcome of two studies undertaken by a team composed of Belgian, Italian and Swedish researchers for the European Commission. It presents an overview of current practices in the measurement of organised crime in Europe and includes a discussion about the concept and the assessment of the impact of the phenomenon. Further the feasibility of the implementation of the existing EU Action Plan was studied and evaluated. As a result of applied research Measuring Organised Crime in Europe provides an in depth and comparative analysis of current practice in drafting organised crime reports across and by the EU and offers new ideas to improve their quality.

In the EU area of freedom, security, and justice, one of the main deficiencies is the lack of cross-country comparable data on crime and criminal justice. The importance of progress in this domain - especially in the context of the identification of best practices in the fight against crime - has been identified on several occasions. The main difficulty lies in the comparability of data or the guarantee that exchanged data is understood in the same way by all actors. In March 2007, the European Commission's Directorate-General for Justice, Freedom and Security launched a call for a Study on the Development of an EU Level Offence Classification System and an Assessment of Its Feasibility to Supporting the Implementation of the Action Plan to Develop an EU Strategy to Measure Crime and Criminal Justice (The Crime Statistics Project [CSP]). This book contains the final report of that Project. In the context of the project, the EU Level Offence Classification System (EULOCS) was created. Its aim is not to become yet another compelling system that requires Member States to further harmonize domestic criminal law or to adjust national data models, but to be a reference index that could serve the different needs in the wider area of justice and home affairs. According to its authors, the area of justice and home affairs could benefit from using EULOCS as a bench-mark, increasing the internal coherence of EU's criminal policy. 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 an asset to everyone involved in or taking an interest in the production of meaningful and comparable data on crime and criminal justice in Europe.

Recoge: 1.The study - 2.The directive - 3.Data protection in the national laws of the Member States - 4.The application of data protection in specific sectoral contexts.

In the past decades, the European Union has made little progress with respect to disqualifications as a sanction mechanism for the violation of laws. The creation of some form of harmonization is necessary, but the complex nature of this specific sanction mechanism has caused policy initiatives to be postponed, time after time. In answer to a call from the European Commission, the contributors in this book have conducted a comparative legal analysis in the EU 27 and looked into the practical experiences with disqualifications from a domestic and a cross border perspective. To that end, academics, policy makers, and practitioners in the Member States have been consulted. Analysis reveals a wide variety in the typology of the disqualifications as a sanction measure, the typology of the persons to whom the disqualifications can be imposed, and the typology of the authorities involved. Furthermore, there are considerable differences with respect to the inclusion of disqualifications in the national criminal records databases. Linked thereto information on foreign disqualifications is scarce and rarely used in practice. To ensure a comprehensive and consistent policy approach, this book has come up with a so called disqualification triad, comprising: (1) unified EU-wide disqualifications, (2) mutual recognition of disqualifications, and (3) EU-wide equivalent effect of disqualifications. The functioning of the disqualification triad has been further elaborated on in three case studies, which are public procurement disqualifications, disqualifications from working with children, and driving disqualifications. In doing so, this book is essential reading for both EU and national policy makers, as well as for researchers and practitioners involved. (Series: Institute for International Research on Criminal Policy [IRCP] - No. 45)