Rethinking European Criminal Justice

The central challenge in creating a European Area of Freedom, Security and Justice is the co-ordination of the different European criminal justice systems. This is necessary because criminals operating internationally cannot be prosecuted successfully using national criminal justice systems the validity of whose decisions is territorially limited. Instead a co-ordinated prosecution system with jurisdiction or enforcement mechanisms for the whole of Europe is necessary for suitable prosecution of criminals operating throughout Europe. A system of this kind must fulfil two criteria: it must provide for efficient prosecution of crime, whilst at the same time maintaining high-level protection of affected citizens’ human rights, which observe the common European constitutional values. A co-ordination of criminal justices systems of this kind is complicated on the inter-state level by substantive and procedural differences between the various national criminal justice systems. Further problems arise because of organisational and factual differences. A systematic concept and the fundamental considerations for the conception of a European criminal law system remain absent. This project aims to produce proposals as to how this gap can be filled.
Project category: Research project
Organizational status: Institute project
Project time frame: Project commences: 2007
Project ends: 2011
Project status: In progress
Project language(s): English, German
Legal system(s): 18 European legal systems, USA, Nordic Council, EU law

Head(s) of project:

Contributors / Researchers:

  • Various researchers
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A first network meeting took place in January 2007.



 Project Partners
Country
 Partner
 Institution
Austria
 t.b.c.
Denmark
 Vagn Greve
 Professor, University of Copenhagen
Belgium
 Anne Weyemberg
 Professor, University of Brussels
Bosnia and Herzegovina
 Almir Maljevic
 Senior Researcher, University of Sarajevo
France
 Peggy Pfützner
 Max Planck Institute
Finland
 Matti Tolvanen
 Professor, University of Joensuu
Germany
 Marc Engelhart
 Max Planck Institute
Hungary
 Judit Jacsó
 Assistant, University of Miskolc
Iceland
 Egill Stephensen
 Chief Prosecutor, Rekjavic Police
Italy
 Giulio Illuminati
 Professor, University of Bologna
Netherlands
 Peter Tak
 Professor, Raboud University of Nijmegen
Norway
 John Reidar Nielsen
 Deputy Chief of Police, Hordaland Politidistrikt
Poland
 Ewa Weigend/Andrzej Sakowicz
 Max Planck Institute/University of Bialystock
Russian Federation
 Sofia Skestakova
 Professor, St. Petersburg University of Interior Ministry of Russia
Spain
 Lorena Bachmeier-Winter
 Professor, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Switzerland
 Sabine Gless/Jan Wennekers/Annette Frey
 Professor, University of Basel/Sabine Gless’ Chair, University of Basel
Sweden
 Göran Berling
 Chief Prosecutor Helsingborg
United Kingdom
 John Spencer/Chiara Mancuso
 Professor, University of Cambridge/University of Cambridge & University of Palermo
USA
 Marc Miller/Ron Wright
 Professor, University of Arizona/Professor, Wake Forest University

Research Aim
The study described here aims to produce a basis for forming a systematic fundamental concept for the co-ordination of European criminal law. This should provide the foundations of practically realistic models and systems for the future co-operation to be developed.
This conceptualising model and system development will take into consideration that future solutions for co-ordinating European criminal justice can only realistically result from a further development of the regulations and institutions created so far. For this reason the study will not only propose an ideal solution. It will also explore how suitable models can be implemented within the framework of existing contracts as well as in that of the constitution by means of a further development of the institutions and structures already in place.

Research Methodology
Solution concepts and practical models will be developed above all via a legal comparative research approach. Its basis is formed above all by a comparative analysis of selected exemplary national European and other criminal justice systems. The inclusion of federal and inter-national criminal justice systems, which could serve as models for European co-ordination is particularly important.
The project requires not only a description of the respective legal country characteristics and co-operation forms but (in as far as possible in a separate section) also their evaluation both with regard to the effectiveness as well as to the securing of fundamental freedoms, transparency and democratic legitimation via organisational forms. The evaluation of the solutions presented in the reports requested from the country rapporteurs is an aid for the overall evaluation of the criminal justice models. The latter will be constructed in the final report within the legal comparative evaluation by the Max-Planck-Institute. This overall evaluation will occur based both upon the analysis of the country reports as well as the common European organisational and legal principles mentioned above and identified by means of an evaluating legal comparison of the fundamental legal principles in European justice systems, including that surrounding the European Convention on Human Rights.

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Publications (selection):

  • Sieber, Ulrich: Memorandum für ein Europäisches Modellstrafgesetzbuch. In: JZ, 1997, p. 369 - 381.
  • Sieber, Ulrich: Memorandum on a Model European Penal Code. In: European Journal of Law Reform, 1998/99, p. 445 - 471.
  • Sieber, Ulrich: À propos code pénale type européen. In: Revue de Droit Pénal et de Criminologie, 1999, Issue⁄Volume 3, p. 34 
  • Sieber, Ulrich: Memorandum avseende en europeisk modellstrafflag. In: Nordisk Tidsskrift for Kriminalvidenskab, 1997, p. 237 - 261.
  • Last update: 25 July 2011
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