European Criminal Law Centre, Catania Italy
CENTRO DI DIRITTO PENALE EUROPEO - CATANIA (CDPE)
The European Criminal Law Center Association was established on 23 May 1997 in Catania. Its aim is to analyse and discuss the impact of the European integration process on Member States’ criminal law and the progressive development of a European Union criminal law. In order to do so, the Association promotes research activities, the sharing of professional experience and public debate. The European Criminal Law Center intends to raise awareness among legal practitioners and economic actors about the need to ensure adequate protection to EU interests. In this regard, the Association provides information and updates on the field through its own publications and activities. Moreover, it actively contributes to scientific and cultural activities launched and/or supported by the European Commission. In addition, it wishes to further the knowledge of European and international mechanisms for the protection of fundamental rights. In particular, a special consideration is devoted to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, with a view to encourage its use by practitioners.
The European Criminal Law Center includes among its members scholars, lawyers, judges, prosecutors, officials and university students. The European Criminal Law Center is also part of the European Lawyers Associations for the Protection of the Financial Interests of the EU network, comprised of 32 European lawyers’ Associations representing all EU Member States (except Cyprus) together with Switzerland and Turkey. This network, working closely with the European Anti-Fraud Office (Olaf), intends to establish and consolidate itself as a forum able to foster the exchange of knowledge and experience among European practitioners. Its ultimate goal is to improve cooperation among Member States and stimulate the debate about European integration in criminal matters, in particular through specialized publications, conferences, training activities. Comparative studies and research are promoted both at the national level, by each national association, and at the European level, thanks to the partnership between several association. The European Criminal Law Center organizes training and updating initiatives at regional and national level, in collaboration with local Bar Councils, in particular with the Bar Council of Catania and its Legal Training Center. The European Criminal Law Center collaborates closely with the Law Department of the University of Catania. In doing so, they promote initiatives aimed at raising awareness about the European integration process issues among students and young scholars. The Series "Pubblicazioni del Centro di Diritto Penale Europeo" collects monographic works and various contributions on the issues related to the European integration in criminal matters and the protection of fundamental rights at EU and international level. It aims to comply with scholars’, legal practitioners’, officials’ growing need for awareness and knowledge about the increasing impact of EU law on National criminal law and the complex theoretical and practical issues that it involves. Established in 1997, year of foundation of the Centro di Diritto Penale Europeo, the Series currently counts a large number of books, that highlight the significant developments in the European construction, with particular attention to the implications that they have entailed in National criminal law. The published volumes show also the profitable collaborations with important and eminent scientific networks, Universities, Italian and foreign research centers; with professional associations; and with representatives of the main European institutions. It is worth to mention the support by the European Anti-Fraud Office of the European Commission (OLAF), through the Hercule program, to the Centro‘s activities and publications included in the Series. The combination of the theoretical-scientific dimension with the practical one that generally characterizes the Centro di Diritto Penale Europeo’s activities clearly results in the books published in the Series. The added value of such a transversal approach relies on the relevant interest that these volumes raise not only among scholars of criminal law, but also among legal professionals (especially judges and barristers whom many training activities organized by the Centro are addressed to). The reflection and analysis carried out on the issues of crucial relevance for the European project, with a mostly cross-sectional and multi-disciplinary approach, have been and continue to be an important contribution to the scientific debate at national and European level, as well as a useful update and follow-up instrument for legal practitioners, in particular with regard to initiatives and projects under discussion at the institutional level, while providing a favorite channel to influence these decision processes. Since 2016, the Series Pubblicazioni del Centro di Diritto Penale Europeo meets the requirements of the national evaluation mechanisms of the scientific research provided by the National Agency for the Evaluation of the University and Research Systems (ANVUR) and the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR), providing for a committee of auditors, appointed to select the works to be included in the Series, on the base of criteria inspired by the quality and value of the proposed works.