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First term
Second term
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Prerequisites
Taught by
Language of instruction
Duration
Identical coursesAims
Learning goals
Knowledge:
The sources of the "Europeanisation" of criminal law and procedure and the relation between those sources.
The role and interplay between the different European and national institutions.
The European instruments defining crime and facilitating or hampering transnational law enforcement.
The instruments and basic rules on extradition, surrender and mutual assistance in criminal matters.
Main fields of criminal law and criminal procedure in which this influence is prominent, the state of the art and likely future issues.
Ability:
To spot issues of European (human rights) law in concrete real life situations.
To argue, distinguish or decide cases on the basis of European sources.
To spot and assess the mutual influence between European and national choices and their repercussions on criminal law practice.
To look at single factual situations or policy choices from different perspectives depending on the role in the process or the stakeholder one is supporting.
Attitude:
Consideration for the historical, political and social context of law.
Critical attitude towards case law from (supranational) courts and towards the arguments of the parties to the proceedings.
Critical comparative perspective on the Europeanisation process and the resulting legal instruments or judgements.
Reflection on the role of fundamental rights in the evolution of criminal law and procedure in European states.
Reflection on the emerging European criminal policies.
Is included in these courses of study
- Master in de rechten (Leuven) (Major strafrecht) 120 ects.
- Master in de rechten (Leuven) (Minor strafrecht) 120 ects.
- Master of Law (double degree with Zurich) (Leuven et al) 120 ects.
- Master of Laws (LL.M) (Leuven) 60 ects.
- Courses for Exchange Students Faculty of Law and Criminology (Leuven)
Activities
6 ects. European Criminal Law (B-KUL-C06B8a)
Content
The course starts with a short historical sketch of criminal law as special field in the European integration process. Subsequently the driving forces behind the harmonization process are addressed, and the protagonists are introduced: the institutions of the Council of Europe, the European Union and the different Member States. It is pointed out that particularly in criminal law the comparison of legal texts or judgements without consideration for the historical, political and social context, can lead to completely wrong conclusions.
The rest of the course focuses on the interaction between national criminal law and the four historic ‘producers’ of ‘Europeanization’ of criminal law: the European Court of Human Rights, the intergovernmental cooperation in the Council of Europe, the European Community and finality the Third Pillar of the European Union. The strength of the course should be the coherence, the connection between these four areas, which are all too often taught as separate, independent fields of study. With the Lisbon Treaty, the four fields have been 'integrated' into one framework, and this interaction between the four levels of Europeanization will be studied, with a special consideration for the future development of institutions and legal instruments.
Using the whole criminal justice process (from creation of the offence over detection, investigation and prosecution, evidence, sentencing to execution of sentences) the increasing influence of Europe will be illustrated. For each stage, specific legal instruments and cases will illustrate the interaction with and impact of the different mechanisms of Europeanization, as well as the inhibitory factors.
• Introduction
• Influence of case law European Court of Human Rights
• Treaty based intergovernmental cooperation Council of Europe
• EC-law: shield and sword function in member state criminal law and procedure
• EU-third pillar law: narrowing and deepening
• Interaction between and integration of the four 'producers' Europeanization
Course material
• Slides
• Toledo, electronic platform
• Reader with treaties, legal instruments, case law and articles
Format: more information
Class room teaching, Socratic method
Evaluation
Evaluation: European Criminal Law (B-KUL-C26B8a)
Explanation
Written examination (open book), i.e. solving a fictitious case, fill out the blanks type questions, open questions (analysis and argumentation), combination test on knowledge and understanding of key concepts or important case law.