European Criminal Justice Area
Volledige vakbeschrijving
This course focuses on cooperation between the Member States of the European Union in criminal matters. Students will explore the effects of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice on the different forms of co-operation in criminal matters at the various stages of a criminal trial. A variety of European legal instruments, such as the European Arrest Warrant, as well as pertinent case law of the European Court of Justice, will be examined. Furthermore, the course will deal with cornerstone principles of cooperation in criminal matters, such as mutual recognition and ne bis in idem. In addition to the European Arrest Warrant, other forms of mutual recognition in criminal matters, e.g. the execution of judgments, the European Protection Order and the European Supervision Order will be analyzed. Finally, the repercussions of these new forms of co-operation on European citizens will be discussed and strengths and weaknesses of the new emerging European Criminal Justice System will be highlighted.
The course has a focus limited to cooperation and will therefore not deal with the influence of Union law on national substantive criminal law (the latter is the topic of the master course European Criminal Law (CRI4007).
The aim of the European Criminal Justice Area course is identify the most salient instruments of cooperation in criminal matters, how they are applied, their problems and challenges. This seven-week course will combine seven sessions of group tutorials and lectures. According to the philosophy of problem-based learning, students shall study and debate the application of the instruments to case studies. Materials include a variety of literature and CJEU case law and EU legislation.
Doelstellingen van dit vak
The main objective of this course is to get acquainted with mutual recognition as the basis for all modalities of cooperation in criminal matters within the European Union. During the course students will solve several case studies regarding the use of mutual recognition instruments, identify which instrument is used when, compare instruments, critically assess their rationales and compatibility of human rights, determine the conditions for each instrument with the help of case law and examine their application in different scenarios.
Students will understand the changes and developments brought about by the introduction of the European Area of Freedom, Security and Justice. They will be enabled to apply as well as critically assess legal instruments and developments in the Area of Freedom Security and Justice. They should be able to find their way in European legislation implemented in a national penal system, evaluate their functioning and form a balanced opinion about the effects of European cooperation in criminal matters.
At the end of the course, students will have understood how cooperation in criminal matters takes place in EU law, be able to apply in practice the main instruments, choose which one is relevant and how it works, and assess problems that might occur. The written assignment gives students the opportunity to conduct research into national law and explore how EU instruments function within national legal orders.
Voorwaarden
- A solid basis on criminal law and procedure, and EU law.
- Interest in cooperation in criminal matters
- Readiness to participate in group sessions based on PBL
Aanbevolen literatuur
- André Klip, European Criminal Law, Intersentia Antwerpen, 2021 4th edition
- Materials on European Criminal Law, Intersentia Antwerpen, 2022, 4th edition
- Reader