European Criminal Law
Inhoudsopgave
1. Introduction ...........................................................................................................................3
2. History, sources and interplay between sources ......................................................................5
2.1. Council of Europe ...............................................................................................................6
2.2. European Court of Human rights ........................................................................................7
2.3. Interstate co-operation Council of Europe ..........................................................................9
2.4. European Community and Criminal Law ........................................................................... 11
A. Evolution European Community ....................................................................................... 11
B. Classic principal rule = EC protects against national criminal law....................................... 13
C. Can the EC force Member States to use criminal law? (Pre-2009) ..................................... 14
D. Border controls? (Schengen) ............................................................................................ 19
2.5. European Union Third Pillar Co-Operation in police and criminal matters ......................... 22
E. From the European Community to the European Union (Lisbon Treaty) ............................ 28
F. The Court of Justice of the European Union on Justice and Home Affairs .......................... 32
G. Conclusions ...................................................................................................................... 34
H. Interplay EU and ECHR law ............................................................................................... 35
3. European influence on substantive criminal law of the Member States ................................. 37
3.1. Sword function: obligation to incriminate and to punish ................................................... 37
A. ECHR ................................................................................................................................ 37
B. Conventions Council of Europe ......................................................................................... 40
C. Union Law Examples EU-induced criminalisation .............................................................. 40
3.2. Shield function of european law: invoking european law as a defence against national
criminal law ................................................................................................................................... 41
A. Differences in national criminal law .................................................................................. 41
B. Case law ........................................................................................................................... 44
3.3. Other substantive law issues: liability, legal persons, justification, excuses? ...................... 49
A. Liability ............................................................................................................................ 49
B. Legal persons ................................................................................................................... 52
C. Accomplice liability and attempts ..................................................................................... 53
D. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 54
4. Investigation phase............................................................................................................... 56
4.1. Competent authorities ..................................................................................................... 56
A. Interpol ............................................................................................................................ 57
B. TREVI ............................................................................................................................... 59
1
, C. OLAF ................................................................................................................................ 59
D. EUROPOL ......................................................................................................................... 60
E. Eurojust ........................................................................................................................... 63
F. European Judicial Network ............................................................................................... 66
G. European Public Prosecutors Office (EPPO)? ..................................................................... 67
H. European Delegated Prosecutors ...................................................................................... 71
4.2. Obligation to investigate and cooperate ........................................................................... 71
A. Positive obligation to investigate ...................................................................................... 71
B. Mutual assistance ............................................................................................................ 73
C. Impact ECHR on Mutual Assistance? ................................................................................. 77
D. EU: need swifter cross-border investigations .................................................................... 78
4.3. Search actions .................................................................................................................. 80
A. Questioning of suspects ................................................................................................... 80
B. Criminal charge/offence? ................................................................................................. 82
C. Rights in Article 6 ECHR .................................................................................................... 83
D. Disclosure ........................................................................................................................ 99
E. Witness evidence ........................................................................................................... 102
F. House search professional privilege interception ............................................................ 106
G. DNA observation ............................................................................................................ 113
H. Undercover – incitements – digital searches ................................................................... 121
I. Electronic evidence ........................................................................................................ 125
5. Arrest, detention on remand, extradition and European arrest warrant .............................. 146
A. Arrest and detention on remand .................................................................................... 146
B. Extradition and surrender............................................................................................... 150
C. European Arrest Warrant ............................................................................................... 154
6. Evidence: limits in using evidence ....................................................................................... 164
7. Criminal Sanctions .............................................................................................................. 168
8. Changes in Legislation: Which Law Applies?........................................................................ 169
9. Obstacles to the Normal Course of Criminal Proceedings: Ne Bis in Idem ............................ 170
2
,1. Introduction
ECL: does not exist?
- No European Criminal Code defining criminal offences
- No European Code of Criminal Procedure
- No European Criminal Courts
o Until 2020, there were no European prosecutors, only national prosecutors
o No European Criminal judges
o No European Juries or Prisons
- Why? => Sovereignty of the states
o >< USA: 51 criminal systems (each state + 1 federal system)
o States have been giving more and more power to the European level but criminal law
is linked to sovereignty for historical reasons because it has to do with knocking on
doors, putting people in prison etc. (= sensitive topic)
Link to the war: occupation by Nazi Germany
Idea of police working on borders was quite controversial
- Criminal law traditionally excluded from partial transfer of sovereignty to supranational
institutions
- Sensitive: monopoly of legitimate violence, right to infringe the most fundamental rights of
people
Driving forces of “Europeanisation” criminal law and criminal justice
- Internationalisation of social and economic life, increased mobility and the boom in
communications
o Example: you go to Paris and you get robbed
o Example: crimes on the internet (fake accounts, haking)
Who is competent to deal with these matters?
- Increasing incidence of European law on national law
Criminal law as the strong arm of national law cannot escape it
o Question of enforcement: can we do something if states do not comply to the
European law?
- The fight against economic crime in general and infractions of Union law (stealing EU money)
in particular
- The fight against organised crime and terrorism
Criminal law has become a top issue on European level
This evolution has culminated in the Lisbon Treaty (2009), reached its highest point of
development
o This treaty brought judicial cooperation in criminal matters from the sphere of
intergovernmental cooperation fully into the fold of EU law and policies (google)
Chronology of ECL-course until 2010
- Member States still in charge of criminal law, but strongly influenced by
o European Court of Human Rights case law
o Interstate co-operation CoE
o European Community and Criminal law
o European Union Third Pillard Co-operation in Police and Criminal Matters => Merged with
Community in New EU (Lisbon)
3
, o Interaction Between different levels and with MS$
Continuous interaction between different levels of Europe and the Member States: yellow indicates
that national level has last word (EU has to obey), red indicate is that EU has the last word (MS have
to obey)
MEMBER STATE MEMBER STATE
National level National level
European Multilateral Co-operation European Community European Union
First pillar Third Pil ar
Court of Human Rights between MS Council of Europe
Caselaw Conventions (treaties)
Committee on the Prevention of Torture OLAF Europol Eurojust
Office for the Fight against Fraud
Objectives/ approach
- Which subject-matters do the different players deal with?
o Different players: ECtHR, Council of Europe and the European Union
o All European levels come together in the same case, for example to invoke human
rights
- Basic procedures and instruments (and where to find them)
- General principles
- Awareness of possibilities and limitations: can it work? Why (not)?
- Being able to apply law, to answer questions on specific situations in the light of European
law
- Illustration of repercussions on MS systems
- Develop a practical and critical attitude: problem solving
Approach
- Chronology of a criminal case and European impact throughout the different stages
o Infiltration of European law in MS law, interaction between the layers of a ‘lasagne-
type-of-legal-order)
- If a small part is European law then the whole issue is European
o cfr. colour drop in water: one colour drop can change the whole colour of the water ≈
if a small part is European law, this makes the whole issue European
European influence/ cross border practice on…
- Who creates criminal (procedure) law?
- Which offences can/ should MS have, can Europe define them?
- Who investigates?
- What can they do, what not?
- Obligation to prosecute?
- Trial: partial judges? Rules evidence?
- Sanctions
- Execution sanctions
4
Inhoudsopgave
1. Introduction ...........................................................................................................................3
2. History, sources and interplay between sources ......................................................................5
2.1. Council of Europe ...............................................................................................................6
2.2. European Court of Human rights ........................................................................................7
2.3. Interstate co-operation Council of Europe ..........................................................................9
2.4. European Community and Criminal Law ........................................................................... 11
A. Evolution European Community ....................................................................................... 11
B. Classic principal rule = EC protects against national criminal law....................................... 13
C. Can the EC force Member States to use criminal law? (Pre-2009) ..................................... 14
D. Border controls? (Schengen) ............................................................................................ 19
2.5. European Union Third Pillar Co-Operation in police and criminal matters ......................... 22
E. From the European Community to the European Union (Lisbon Treaty) ............................ 28
F. The Court of Justice of the European Union on Justice and Home Affairs .......................... 32
G. Conclusions ...................................................................................................................... 34
H. Interplay EU and ECHR law ............................................................................................... 35
3. European influence on substantive criminal law of the Member States ................................. 37
3.1. Sword function: obligation to incriminate and to punish ................................................... 37
A. ECHR ................................................................................................................................ 37
B. Conventions Council of Europe ......................................................................................... 40
C. Union Law Examples EU-induced criminalisation .............................................................. 40
3.2. Shield function of european law: invoking european law as a defence against national
criminal law ................................................................................................................................... 41
A. Differences in national criminal law .................................................................................. 41
B. Case law ........................................................................................................................... 44
3.3. Other substantive law issues: liability, legal persons, justification, excuses? ...................... 49
A. Liability ............................................................................................................................ 49
B. Legal persons ................................................................................................................... 52
C. Accomplice liability and attempts ..................................................................................... 53
D. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 54
4. Investigation phase............................................................................................................... 56
4.1. Competent authorities ..................................................................................................... 56
A. Interpol ............................................................................................................................ 57
B. TREVI ............................................................................................................................... 59
1
, C. OLAF ................................................................................................................................ 59
D. EUROPOL ......................................................................................................................... 60
E. Eurojust ........................................................................................................................... 63
F. European Judicial Network ............................................................................................... 66
G. European Public Prosecutors Office (EPPO)? ..................................................................... 67
H. European Delegated Prosecutors ...................................................................................... 71
4.2. Obligation to investigate and cooperate ........................................................................... 71
A. Positive obligation to investigate ...................................................................................... 71
B. Mutual assistance ............................................................................................................ 73
C. Impact ECHR on Mutual Assistance? ................................................................................. 77
D. EU: need swifter cross-border investigations .................................................................... 78
4.3. Search actions .................................................................................................................. 80
A. Questioning of suspects ................................................................................................... 80
B. Criminal charge/offence? ................................................................................................. 82
C. Rights in Article 6 ECHR .................................................................................................... 83
D. Disclosure ........................................................................................................................ 99
E. Witness evidence ........................................................................................................... 102
F. House search professional privilege interception ............................................................ 106
G. DNA observation ............................................................................................................ 113
H. Undercover – incitements – digital searches ................................................................... 121
I. Electronic evidence ........................................................................................................ 125
5. Arrest, detention on remand, extradition and European arrest warrant .............................. 146
A. Arrest and detention on remand .................................................................................... 146
B. Extradition and surrender............................................................................................... 150
C. European Arrest Warrant ............................................................................................... 154
6. Evidence: limits in using evidence ....................................................................................... 164
7. Criminal Sanctions .............................................................................................................. 168
8. Changes in Legislation: Which Law Applies?........................................................................ 169
9. Obstacles to the Normal Course of Criminal Proceedings: Ne Bis in Idem ............................ 170
2
,1. Introduction
ECL: does not exist?
- No European Criminal Code defining criminal offences
- No European Code of Criminal Procedure
- No European Criminal Courts
o Until 2020, there were no European prosecutors, only national prosecutors
o No European Criminal judges
o No European Juries or Prisons
- Why? => Sovereignty of the states
o >< USA: 51 criminal systems (each state + 1 federal system)
o States have been giving more and more power to the European level but criminal law
is linked to sovereignty for historical reasons because it has to do with knocking on
doors, putting people in prison etc. (= sensitive topic)
Link to the war: occupation by Nazi Germany
Idea of police working on borders was quite controversial
- Criminal law traditionally excluded from partial transfer of sovereignty to supranational
institutions
- Sensitive: monopoly of legitimate violence, right to infringe the most fundamental rights of
people
Driving forces of “Europeanisation” criminal law and criminal justice
- Internationalisation of social and economic life, increased mobility and the boom in
communications
o Example: you go to Paris and you get robbed
o Example: crimes on the internet (fake accounts, haking)
Who is competent to deal with these matters?
- Increasing incidence of European law on national law
Criminal law as the strong arm of national law cannot escape it
o Question of enforcement: can we do something if states do not comply to the
European law?
- The fight against economic crime in general and infractions of Union law (stealing EU money)
in particular
- The fight against organised crime and terrorism
Criminal law has become a top issue on European level
This evolution has culminated in the Lisbon Treaty (2009), reached its highest point of
development
o This treaty brought judicial cooperation in criminal matters from the sphere of
intergovernmental cooperation fully into the fold of EU law and policies (google)
Chronology of ECL-course until 2010
- Member States still in charge of criminal law, but strongly influenced by
o European Court of Human Rights case law
o Interstate co-operation CoE
o European Community and Criminal law
o European Union Third Pillard Co-operation in Police and Criminal Matters => Merged with
Community in New EU (Lisbon)
3
, o Interaction Between different levels and with MS$
Continuous interaction between different levels of Europe and the Member States: yellow indicates
that national level has last word (EU has to obey), red indicate is that EU has the last word (MS have
to obey)
MEMBER STATE MEMBER STATE
National level National level
European Multilateral Co-operation European Community European Union
First pillar Third Pil ar
Court of Human Rights between MS Council of Europe
Caselaw Conventions (treaties)
Committee on the Prevention of Torture OLAF Europol Eurojust
Office for the Fight against Fraud
Objectives/ approach
- Which subject-matters do the different players deal with?
o Different players: ECtHR, Council of Europe and the European Union
o All European levels come together in the same case, for example to invoke human
rights
- Basic procedures and instruments (and where to find them)
- General principles
- Awareness of possibilities and limitations: can it work? Why (not)?
- Being able to apply law, to answer questions on specific situations in the light of European
law
- Illustration of repercussions on MS systems
- Develop a practical and critical attitude: problem solving
Approach
- Chronology of a criminal case and European impact throughout the different stages
o Infiltration of European law in MS law, interaction between the layers of a ‘lasagne-
type-of-legal-order)
- If a small part is European law then the whole issue is European
o cfr. colour drop in water: one colour drop can change the whole colour of the water ≈
if a small part is European law, this makes the whole issue European
European influence/ cross border practice on…
- Who creates criminal (procedure) law?
- Which offences can/ should MS have, can Europe define them?
- Who investigates?
- What can they do, what not?
- Obligation to prosecute?
- Trial: partial judges? Rules evidence?
- Sanctions
- Execution sanctions
4
