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Gianluca Dianese_sw Gianluca Dianese / Dimo Grozdev_sw Dimo Grozdev

Criminal and Administrative Procedures in Protecting the Financial Interests of the EU

EPPO and OLAF – Cooperation by Design

7 February 2023 (updated 1 year, 1 month ago) // english

This article argues that, with the establishment of the EPPO, the European Union intended to pursue, through the integration of procedural powers vested within the EPPO and OLAF, the creation of an “end-to-end” prosecution cycle that is able to seek both criminal penalties and administrative/financial sanctions, such as asset forfeiture and the restoration of damages caused by violations and misuse of EU funds. The authors reach the conclusion that this newly established holistic approach for the prosecution of administrative violations and criminal activities increases the effectiveness of the work of all EU bodies in tackling crime, securing punishments for the criminal perpetrators, and increasing the possibility for the misappropriated funds to be recovered.
The article further stresses that, for the purposes of a proper investigation, administrative and criminal investigative work can often overlap. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to ensure coordination between all investigative bodies. In this context, the article … Read more

Andrea Venegoni

The EPPO Faces its First Important Test: A Brief Analysis of the Request for a Preliminary Ruling in G. K. and Others

6 February 2023 (updated 5 months, 2 weeks ago) // english

The article analyses the first question referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union for a preliminary ruling in a case concerning the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO). It involves the interpretation of a key provision regarding the investigations of this new office, i.e. Art. 31 of Council Regulation EU 2017/1939. This provision governs investigative measures that need to be undertaken in a Member State other than the Member State of the handling European Delegated Prosecutor. In the case at issue, the Oberlandesgericht Wien, Austria is seeking clarification as to the extent of judicial review if it comes to cross-border investigations within this regime. The author argues that the case raises a number of key issues for the functioning of the EPPO regarding its structure and operation, not to mention the EPPO’s relevance in the creation of a common area of justice in the European Union.

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dr. Balázs Márton

The Conflict of Competence between the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and Spanish Prosecutors – Lessons Learned

6 February 2023 (updated 1 year, 1 month ago) // english

The rules on the exercise of competence by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office have been discussed by several authors. It has been put forward that the way in which material competence is regulated is highly complex; as is the division of competences between the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and national authorities. In addition to jeopardising legal certainty, this poses a major challenge to the practical application of the law. Such challenges recently came to light in a case of positive conflict of competence involving the Spanish Prosecutor’s Office and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. This article recapitulates the case and argues that while the conflict has been temporarily resolved, the parties’ statements indicate that its roots go deeper than flawed EU regulation, testing the limits of the principle of the primacy of EU law.

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Bachmaier_Lorena 2018-2_bw.jpg Prof. Dr. Lorena Bachmaier

Disciplinary Sanctions against Judges: Punitive but not Criminal for the Strasbourg Court

Pragmatism or another Twist towards Further Confusion in Applying the Engel Criteria?

6 February 2023 (updated 1 year, 1 month ago) // english

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) sought to extend the guarantees for criminal procedure enshrined in Art. 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to administrative offences which are criminal in nature when it established the Engel criteria. It aimed to prevent that the states circumvent criminal procedure safeguards by simply labelling such offences as administrative. However, the ECtHR went back on this initial approach in subsequent judgments, denying that sanctions in disciplinary proceedings against judges fall under the criminal limb of Art. 6 ECHR. Hence, further exploration is required to clear the blurring lines between administrative and criminal sanctions with the aim of establishing which procedural safeguards are applicable.
This article outlines and reflects on the reasons set out in ECtHR case law for no longer considering disciplinary sanctions against judges as “criminal in nature.” It is argued that the ECtHR’s current approach leaves it unclear which … Read more

Juric_1_sw_resized Mirjana Jurić mag.jur

The Players in the Protection of the EU’s Financial Interests

European Cooperation between Authorities Conducting Administrative Investigations and those Conducting Criminal Investigations

29 November 2022 (updated 1 year, 3 months ago) // english

Cooperation between authorities conducting administrative investigations and those conducting criminal investigations at both the EU and Member State levels is essential to ensure a high level of protection in view of the EU's financial interests. However, the legal framework governing the role and competences of individual authorities at the EU level seems much clearer than the corresponding national legal frameworks of the Member States. Indeed, at the Member State level, the legal frameworks for conducting investigations, whether administrative or criminal, significantly differ from Member State to Member State. Likewise, there is no clear legal framework at the EU level that defines and sets standards regarding the mandatory control mechanisms that must be established at the level of the entire system for the protection of the EU’s financial interests in the Member States. This also applies in relation to the players that need to be involved in the protection of the … Read more