This article focuses on the rights of victims in Slovenian criminal law. The main questions here are whether Slovenia has fully implemented the EU Framework Decision of 15 March 2001 on the standing of victims in criminal proceedings, whether our legislation on victims poses any problems from the viewpoint of this framework decision, and whether Slovenian law offers any additional protection and rights to the victims.
Since the Republic of Slovenia became an independent state in 1991, there have been many changes to our criminal law. The Criminal Procedure Act (CPA) and Criminal Code (CC) first entered into force on 1st January 1995. Both have seen some amendments, and the entire criminal law (both substantive and procedural) was extensively altered after 2005 when numerous special acts were adopted (including the Witness Protection Act and the Act on Compensation of Victims of Violent Criminal Acts ) and a new Criminal Code-1 (CC-1) … Read more

The ongoing spread of social networking pages such as Facebook and Google+ recently sparked the interest of German security agencies. In a statement of 14 July 2011, the federal government acknowledged the relevance and conduct of criminal investigations on social networking pages. The government takes the view that the pseudonymous participation does in general not require a specific legal basis since there is no legitimate expectation of privacy on websites which do not require a verification of identity by registration. This view is partly shared in legal writing and refers to a relatively vague section in a recent judgment of the federal constitutional court. The article analyses that argument and reveals that it is too undifferentiated for a transfer to social networks and thus not in accordance with the constitutional requirements in Germany.

The first Association was formally constituted in Rome in October 1990. Today, there are 32 associations altogether, representing all the Member States (except Cyprus), plus Croatia, San Marino, Switzerland, and Turkey. AGON, the bulletin of the Associations, was first published in April 1993. It was replaced by eucrim in 2006. The Associations meanwhile function as a network and serve as a forum in the field of European criminal law and the protection of the financial interests of the European Union. They are made up of representatives from the legal and judicial professions (academics and practitioners) as well as other law… Read more

The article examines the investigative role of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and the procedural rights implications arising from its anti-fraud activities.