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Every managerial decision is risky, at least to some extent. Conducting business is impossible without venturing into new territories and even the most ordinary daily choices could turn out to be failures. Excessive risk, however, can be very detrimental as was starkly illustrated by the most recent financial crisis. By criminalising managers' excessive risk-taking criminal law enters a sphere which is at the core of the activity it affects. At the same time it provides for criminal punishment for courses of conduct that, without doubt, can be extremely harmful. The objective of this book is to examine existing criminalisation of excessive risk-taking as well as to analyse whether such criminalisation is desirable and if yes, under which conditions.
This book looks at the interplay between criminal and other branches of public law pursuing similar objectives (referred to as 'quasi-criminal law'). The need for clarifying the concepts and the interlink between criminal and quasi-criminal enforcement is a topic attracting a lot of discussion and debate both in academia and practice across Europe (and beyond). This volume adds to this debate by bringing to light the substantive and procedural problems stemming from the current parallel or dual use of the different enforcement systems. The collection draws on expertise from academia, practice and policy; its high-quality analysis will appeal to scholars, practitioners and policymakers alike.
This book provides a systematic and comprehensive overview of the increased role of criminal law in managing migration, from a European, domestic and comparative law perspective. The contributors critically engage with the current trends leading to the criminalisation of irregular migrants, asylum seekers and those who engage in 'humanitarian smuggling' and the national and common policies calling for a broader use of criminal law measures. The chapters explore the measures used to protect borders and their impact in terms of effectiveness and their ability to strike a fair balance between security and the protection of human rights. The contributors to the book cover a range of disciplines within law, human rights and criminology resulting in a broad understanding of the issues at play.
What impact has the evolution and proliferation of surveillance in the digital age had on fundamental rights? This important collection offers a critical assessment from a European, transatlantic and global perspective. It tracks four key dimensions: digitalisation, privatisation, de-politicisation/de-legalisation and globalisation. It sets out the legal and policy demands that recourse to 'the digital' has imposed. Exploring the question across key sectors, it looks at privatisation through the prism of those demands on the private sector to co-operate with the state's security needs. It goes on to assess de-politicisation and de-legalisation, reflecting the fact that surveillance is often conducted in secret. Finally, it looks at applicable law in a globalised digital world. The book, with its exploration of cutting-edge issues, makes a significant contribution to our understanding of privacy in this new digital landscape.
This book assesses data protection rules that are applicable to the processing of personal data in a law enforcement context. It offers the first extensive analysis of the LED and Regulation (EU) 2018/1725. It illustrates the challenges arising from the unclear delineation between the different data protection instruments at both national and EU level. Taking a practical approach, it exemplifies situations where the application of data protection instruments could give rise to a lowering of data protection standards where the data protection rules applicable in the law enforcement context are interpreted broadly. The scope of data protection instruments applied by law enforcement authorities impacts processing for purposes of border control, migration management and asylum because there is an unclear delineation between the different data protection instruments.
This book provides a systematic and analytical account of the problems facing transnational criminal justice. It details actual problems arising in the transnational prosecution of crimes; assesses existing obstacles on admissibility of evidence; in particular with regard to electronic evidence, assesses the impact that the impediment of free circulation of evidence has on fundamental rights of the defendants facing criminal trial; and finally drafts a proposal for the future of regulation for this complex topic. The book therefore contributes to the debate on the creation of an Area of Freedom, Security and Justice in the EU. It offers insights on how to outline the main general rules that could be adopted at EU level in a manner that adequately balances the need for efficiency in prosecution and the protection of human rights. With contributions of renowned experts in the field, the book addresses the discussion of a potential legislative proposal with the help of insight into the experience and conceptual context of the rules of evidence at the national level. The legislative proposal was adopted by the European Law Institute, who supported the work reflected in this book.
The definition of organised crime has long been the object of lively debate, at national and international level. Sociological and legal analysis has not yet led to one definitive answer to the question of what exactly 'organised crime' means. Nonetheless, many instruments adopted both at international and national levels set forth special legal regimes designed to target criminal groups featuring a stable organisation, which are perceived as particularly dangerous to society. Therefore, identifying the notion of organised crime is crucial to establishing the scope of any legal instrument specifically designed for combating it. The aim of this book is to reassess the scope, the effectiveness and the overall coherence of existing definitions of organised crime, and to identify any need for a reconsideration of these definitions, specifically with reference to the EU legal order. It will be of interest to academics, practitioners and legislators working in the sphere of EU criminal law and of organised crime more generally.
This book traces the history of the EU competence, EU policy discourse and EU legislation in the field of criminalisation from Maastricht until the present day. It asks 'Why EU Criminal Law?' looking at what rationales the Treaty, policy document and legislation put forth when deciding whether a certain behaviour should be a criminal offence. To interpret the EU approach to criminalisation, it relies on both modern and post-modern theoretical frameworks on the legitimacy of criminal law, read jointly with the theories on the functions of EU harmonisation of national law. The book demonstrates that while EU constitutional law leans towards an effectiveness-based, enforcement-driven, understanding of criminal law, the EU has in fact in more than one instance adopted symbolic EU criminal law, ie criminal law aimed at highlighting what values are important to the EU, but which is not fit to actually deter individuals from harming such values. The book then questions whether this approach is consistent or in contradiction with the values-based constitutional identity the EU has set for itself.
In 2013 the European Commission launched its legislative proposal to create a European Public Prosecutor’s Office. The proposal provoked fierce debates, politically as well as on the academic level. Many national parliaments opposed and submitted formally their grievances to the Commission. Negotiations on the proposal between Member States are still ongoing. The T.M.C. Asser Instituut held the first international conference on this unprecedented proposal. This book reflects the main results of that conference. It provides a concise background of and reasoning for the introduction of this new EU body entrusted with far reaching judicial powers disclosing important legal and policy implications. Within its hitherto limited scope the existing system of judicial cooperation between EU Member States will change fundamentally, directly affecting the functioning of national courts and public prosecutions offices. How will this evolve? This book will help answering fundamental questions involved.
This book develops a conceptual framework of the principle of mutual trust in EU criminal law. Mutual trust is a household term in the EU criminal law vocabulary and is widely regarded to be a prerequisite for a successful application of mutual recognition. But despite its importance, the parameters of the concept are not clear. The book demonstrates that mutual trust is multi-faceted: combining the elements essential to a successful EU criminal law, as part of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice. The book approaches trust from multiple angles. First, a study of social science literature. Second, a meticulous assessment of mutual trust in EU criminal law. Third, a study of trust in US interstate criminal justice cooperation. Finally, the book identifies a comprehensive approach to tackle trust related difficulties in EU criminal law. This timely book will be of great interest to anyone looking to gain a full picture of this core principle in EU criminal law.