Dear Readers, In early 2016, eucrim celebrated its 10th anniversary. I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to this endeavor over the years. Special thanks go to all our readers, authors, the Max Planck team, and the Commission. Without you, the longstanding achievements of eucrim would not have been possible! When we look back on the development of eucrim, it has been an overall success. From the very beginning, eucrim went beyond the original idea of being merely a newsletter on European criminal law. During the past ten years, it has also evolved into a well-known journal for… Read more

Dear Readers, The imposition of tight regulatory controls on banks and other financial intermediaries is a universal characteristic of modern economic systems. The frequency and intensity of legislative and administrative measures affecting financial activities demonstrate the state’s incessant concern with the way in which the market operates in this field. However, the precise perimeter of the regulated sector varies from one jurisdiction to another and changes over time. The same is true of the form and direction of the regulatory interventions. This raises important questions about the existence or otherwise of common threads –common objectives and overarching justifications– holding together… Read more

Dear Readers, The main concern of the European Court of Human Rights is of course to succeed in its mission to protect fundamental rights in Europe. Criminal law, substantive or procedural, is a domain where the need to protect society, whether at the level of the individual state or that of the organisation of European integration – at the quasi-federal level of the Union – must necessarily be confronted and associated with the need to protect fundamental rights. Such is the imperative arising from the irreversible choices made by European States in acceding to the European Convention on Human Rights… Read more

The European Convention on Extradition was opened for signature in 1957 and came into force in 1960. It laid the foundation for cooperation in criminal matters between Council of Europe Member States. Since then, many international treaties drafted under the auspices of the Council of Europe, the European Union, the United Nations, and other international bodies have been developed. The question everybody is now asking is: After 60 years of effort and work to strengthen relations between the states, has international cooperation in criminal matters produced meaningful results? An initial look at the long tradition of cooperation in criminal matters… Read more

Dear Readers, Security is among Europeans’ key concerns in 2015.1 Even though ensuring internal security lies primarily with the Member States, the new and more complex threats that have emerged require further synergies at all levels. The European Agenda on Security presented by the Commission on 28 April 2015 highlights the EU’s added value to Member States’ actions. It underlines that the EU needs a solid criminal justice response to terrorism, covering investigation and prosecution of those who plan terrorist acts or are suspected of recruitment, training, and financing of terrorism as well as incitement to commit a terrorist offence.… Read more

Since the Lisbon Treaty, the concept “Judicial cooperation in criminal matters in the Union shall be based on the principle of mutual recognition of judgments” has acquired a constitutional rank. All the European institutions recognise that, in order for the principle of mutual recognition to become effective, mutual trust needs to be strengthened, and that mutual understanding between the different legal systems in the Member States will be one of the main challenges of the future. The promotion of a European legal culture among judges, prosecutors, and judicial staff is considered to be of paramount importance. Unfortunately, since the 19th… Read more