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of authorities involved therein, rendering the traditional distinction between police and judicial cooperation as outdated.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

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.

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)

Any effort to gather evidence may prove pointless without ensuring its admissibility. Nevertheless, the EU, while developing instruments for smooth gathering of evidence in criminal matters, is not taking much effort to enhance its admissibility. Due to the lack of common rules in this matter, gathering and use of evidence in the EU cross-border context is still governed by the domestic law of the member states concerned. This may lead to situations where, given the differences between legal systems across the EU, evidence collected in one member state will not be admissible in other member states. Due to the fact that the Lisbon Treaty opened the possibility to adopt minimum rules concerning, among other things, the mutual admissibility of evidence, this research investigates the concept of minimum standards designed to enhance mutual admissibility of evidence in the EU. Through a study of two investigative measures, telephone tapping and house search, the author examines whether coming to various common minimum standards is feasible and whether compliance with these standards would finally shape the as yet nonexistent concept of the free movement and mutual recognition of evidence in criminal matters in the EU. Essential reading for both national and EU policy makers, scholars and practitioners involved in cross-border gathering of evidence in the EU.

This book develops a conceptual framework of the principle of mutual trust in EU criminal law. Mutual trust is a household term in the EU criminal law vocabulary and is widely regarded to be a prerequisite for a successful application of mutual recognition. But despite its importance, the parameters of the concept are not clear. The book demonstrates that mutual trust is multi-faceted: combining the elements essential to a successful EU criminal law, as part of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice. The book approaches trust from multiple angles. First, a study of social science literature. Second, a meticulous assessment of mutual trust in EU criminal law. Third, a study of trust in US interstate criminal justice cooperation. Finally, the book identifies a comprehensive approach to tackle trust related difficulties in EU criminal law. This timely book will be of great interest to anyone looking to gain a full picture of this core principle in EU criminal law.

A leading work in the field of international criminal law, which is accessible, comprehensive and up to date.

This book offers an insight into the historical, institutional and topical development of the EU policy in the areas of justice, home affairs and security, well-embedded in a broader international context. The main part of the book, dedicated to the EU, is therefore preceded by a part on relevant cooperation on the Benelux and Schengen levels and followed by a part on cooperation in the areas concerned on Council of Europe, NATO, OSCE, G8, OECD and UN levels. Without a proper understanding of those cooperation levels, the development and functioning of the EU would be hard to fully grasp. Before addressing the actual policy dimension, all parts start with a historical introduction and a sketch of institutional structures and functioning. For students and professionals in criminology, law and political science, and every one interested in European and international criminal policy making this book will prove relevant or insightful.