I. Preliminary Remarks Of the most significant innovations of the Treaty of Lisbon, one must refer to the conferral to the EU of a competence in criminal matters,1 according to which the national legislator, in some cases, is under the obligation to adopt criminal provisions implementing measures regulating criminalization decided at the supranational level. Indeed, according to Art. 83 TFEU, the EU legislative bodies – European Parliament and Council in co-decision − “establish, by means of directives adopted in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, minimum rules concerning the definition of criminal offences and sanctions.” Such a competence is conferred... Read more

The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty on 1 December 2009 resulted in a number of important changes for the democratic accountability of European criminal law. Among them is the enhanced role of the European Parliament as regards the adoption of EU legislation in this area. This coincides with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (EU Charter) achieving binding status.1 A new European Parliament was installed in July 2014, followed by the confirmation of the Commission presided over by Jean-Claude Juncker. Together with the Council, these European institutions now have the obligation to make a convincing... Read more

I. Introduction: The EU framework on victims’ rights Unlike other initiatives seeking to consolidate the area of “freedom, security and justice,” it would be justified to consider the EU action on victims’ rights as a clear success story. Improving the rights, support, protection, and participation of victims in criminal proceedings, alongside capturing and punishing the offenders, has been a focus of Union policy during the past few years, especially since the need for action in this field had been identified as a strategic priority by the Commission in the Action Plan implementing the Stockholm Programme of the European Council.1 The... Read more

I. Directive 57/2014 and Regulation 596/2014: The New Legal Framework Against Market Abuse in the European Union Traditionally, the protection of market integrity and of investors’ confidence has been mainly guaranteed through extra-penal measures, such as the infliction of administrative sanctions by independent regulators or the right for investors to raise civil lawsuits against intermediaries. In recent years, the strategic role assumed by financial markets in modern economic life, the frequent crises that originated from this system as well as their catastrophic effects on global economies have led to an increase in the use of criminal law. Criminal law is... Read more