I. Introduction On 22 October 2013, the European Parliament and the Council adopted Directive 2013/48/EU on the right of access to a lawyer in criminal proceedings and in European Arrest Warrant (EAW) proceedings. The Directive also addresses the right for suspects and accused persons in criminal proceedings, and for persons subject to EAW proceedings, to have a third party informed upon deprivation of liberty and the right to communicate with third persons and with consular authorities while deprived of liberty.1 The part of the Directive regarding the right of access to a lawyer is the core measure of the roadmap... Read more

The Lisbon Treaties sought to address several of the criminal policy shortcomings that I have mentioned in the editorial of this number of eucrim. Whether they have been adequately addressed is still too early to assess, but some of the experiences show that we are on the right track. In particular, the use of QMV (Qualified Majority Voting) and co-decision under the ordinary legislative procedure have permitted less tortuous compromises to be made. It should also be said that the Lisbon Treaties also brought some new challenges to the development of criminal policy in the European Union. Contrary to what... Read more

I. Introduction Historically, pre-trial investigations in Dutch criminal cases are largely based upon the cornerstones of French criminal law. Therefore, the basic structure of these investigations is inquisitor-based. As a consequence, the accused is a subject under investigation by the police and the public prosecutor. If necessary, the common methods of investigation could be enlarged by means of a preliminary investigation. This investigation could be installed after and/or during police investigations upon the request of a public prosecutor. The purpose of this request was to involve the judge of instruction in the investigation and herewith widen the scope of the... Read more

As explicitly mentioned in the Treaty of Nice,1 and preceded by a provisional unit (“pro-Eurojust”),2 Eurojust was established through a Decision of 28 February 2002.3 The latter was amended by the Decision of 16 December 2008 on the strengthening of Eurojust.4 Shortly after the celebration of its 10th birthday in 2012, Eurojust became the subject of a new reform. On the 17th of July 2013, the Commission presented a proposal for a Regulation on the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust), based on Art. 85 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU).5 This initiative was... Read more