Criminal law has considerably evolved in the last few decades. A number of new trends have challenged the traditional features of "modern criminal law". One of the new trends affecting criminal justice systems is the so-called "Europeanisation process", which is the result of the growing intervention of the EU in the area of criminal Law. Another new trend which criminal law and other legal disciplines are facing is the increasingly blurred dividing line between legal categories. Various dimensions of this unclear division between categories have been identified in legal literature, in particular between administrative and criminal law. This book aims to study the combination of the two abovementioned trends and their impact on criminal justice systems. The hazy line between administrative and criminal law has been around fora white and has Brown independently of the European Union. Up until now, it has mainly been analysed at the national level in a sector by sector approach. This research aims to go beyond such an approach to the topic and sets a systematised assessment of the situation in motion. The main questions that this book tackles are whether and to what extent the EU contributes to the blurred line and whether it tries to restrict it, hold it in check and/or organise it. In order to reflect upon such issues, the book is divided into two parts. The first part focuses on an analysis of selected case studies, namely different types of crimes where the EU plays an increasing rote : trafficking in human beings, terrorism, protection of the EU's financial interests, market abuse, environmental offences and competition. These case studies are ordered into four different categories based on how broad and significant the intervention of administrative measures/actors is in the fight against crime. The second part of the book is of a more general nature. Following an article concerning the organisation of the coexistence of administrative and criminal law at the national level, the other contributions focus on the EU level and aim to assess the influence of the EU on the existence and development of the hazy line between administrative and criminal law. Most of them show that the EU somehow contributes to the lack of clarity. They tend to identify the main reasons for this and the potential problems caused by the blurred line in terms of individual procedural safeguards and the effectiveness of the fight against crime. This book is the result of cooperation within an international team mainly composed of academics and researchers who are members of ECLAN (the European Criminal Law Academic Network) and of practitioners working at the national or EU level.

Do labels still matter ? - Blurring boundaries between administrative and criminal law. The influence of the EU

The European Union's efforts to approximate substantive criminal law began under the third pillar of the Maastricht Treaty, then amended by the Amsterdam and Nice Treaties. As with other areas of cooperation in criminal matters, this domain has been 'communitarised' by the Lisbon Treaty. Since then, it is the area where the most initiatives have been introduced. In this context, the purpose of the book is twofold. The first aim is to evaluate the changes introduced by the new Treaty and, three years after its entry into force, to provide an overview of the concrete implementation and practical impact of these changes. The second is to reflect on future prospects. Following an introduction, which identifies the institutional and decisionmaking changes resulting from the Lisbon Treaty and examines the novel interactions among European actors, the book is divided into two main sections. The first one develops a crosscutting approach, which can be applied to the approximation of substantive criminal law irrespective of any specific domain of analysis. It draws together reflections on the importance of fundamental principles of criminal law ; on the so-called annexcompetence provided for by Article 83 (2) TFEU ; on the role of the approximation of substantive criminal law with a view to the establishment of a European Public Prosecutor's Office ; and on the development of a general substantive criminal law for the EU. The focus of the second part of the book is on evaluating the impact of EU approximation instruments in three selected areas (drug trafficking, terrorist offences and trafficking in human beings). In cases where successive EU instruments have been adopted over time, this second part will assess whether and to what extent evaluation processes had an impact on the drafting of subsequent provisions. The edited volume ends with concluding remarks on the way forward. This book has been co-written by an international team mainly composed of academics and researchers who are members of ECLAN (the European Criminal Law Academic Network).

Approximation of substantive criminal law in the EU - The way forward

Governments have often claimed that modern international terrorism cannot be handled adequately within the ordinary criminal justice system. Consequently criminal law had to be adapted to fight terrorism more effectively, which includes the criminalization of certain "abstract danger", preparatory activities such as terrorist training, membership in a terrorist organization etc. National legislation has evolved against the background of international and European instruments. This collective book presents and discusses the latest counter-terrorism policies at the EU level, and particularly instruments for approximation in the field, namely the Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA on combating terrorism and the Framework Decision 2008/919/JHA amending the previous one. The objective is, in particular, to evaluate the impact of the introduction of a EU definition of terrorism and the three new offences of provocation, training and recruitment for terrorism purposes on the development of substantive criminal law and case law of selected EU Member States. Following an introduction and a general critical assessment of both Framework Decisions, the first part will be devoted to the interplay between these two EU instruments and national provisions, including a study of the relevant domestic case law. Nine Member States (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, Austria, Belgium, Denmark and Hungary) have been selected in order to ensure a balanced representation and particularly the division between two groups of States. The first group is made of few jurisdictions that have experienced serious and long-lasting periods of political violence and terrorism, developed specific terrorist offences and have been influential in providing a model for shaping a common European counter-terrorism strategy. The second group encompasses States that have defined terrorist offences as autonomous ones in their penal codes only when required by the 2002 Framework Decision on combating terrorism. A second and briefer part looks at the influence on European cooperation of the two relevant EU framework decisions harmonizing the terrorist offences. A third and last part is entirely dedicated to the issue of the shift towards prevention in the fight against terrorism and gathers several crosscutting reports for this purpose. The book ends with a transversal and analytical conclusion. This book is the result of the collaboration of an international team composed of academics and researchers who are members of ECLAN (European Criminal Law Academic Network) as well as national and European experts who "practice" the relevant EU instruments on a regular basis.

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