15. Justice and Home Affairs Institutional Change and Policy Continuity

Author(s):  
Sandra Lavenex

This chapter examines the European Union’s justice and home affairs (JHA), which have evolved from a peripheral aspect into a focal point of European integration. It first considers the institutionalization of JHA cooperation, focusing on the Treaty of Lisbon which constitutes a milestone in the communitarization process, before discussing the main actors in the JHA. In particular, it looks at the organization and capacities of EU institutions, the continuity of intergovernmentalism, and the proliferation of semi-autonomous agencies and databases. It also explores the flow of policy, taking into account asylum policy and immigration policy, police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, and the challenge of implementation. The chapter shows how cooperation among national agencies concerned with combating crime, fighting terrorism, and managing borders, immigration and asylum has gradually moved from loose intergovernmental cooperation to more supranational governance within the EU.

Author(s):  
Sandra Lavenex

This chapter examines the European Union’s justice and home affairs (JHA), which have evolved from a peripheral aspect into a focal point of European integration and today are at the centre of politicization in the EU. It first considers the institutionalization of JHA cooperation and its gradual move towards more supranational competences before discussing political contestation as expressed in the context of Brexit and the crisis of the common asylum and Schengen systems. The development of cooperation is retraced, looking at the main actors in the JHA, the organization and capacities of EU institutions, the continuity of intergovernmentalism, the proliferation of semi-autonomous agencies and databases, and the flow of policy, taking into account asylum policy and immigration policy, police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, and the challenge of implementation. The chapter shows how the gradual move of cooperation among national agencies concerned with combating crime; fighting terrorism; and managing borders, immigration, and asylum from loose intergovernmental cooperation to more supranational governance within the EU has remained contested, and argues that this contestation exemplifies the limits of political unification.


Author(s):  
Juan Fernando López Aguilar

El proceso europeo de aproximación y/o armonización legislativa en materia penal y procesal penal arrancó en tiempo reciente: de hecho, hasta hace bien poco parecía un ejercicio de voluntarista wishful thinking, en la medida en que impactaba sobre un ámbito preservado a la idea tradicional de soberanía de los Estados. La incorporación de la legislación penal y la cooperación judicial penal al ámbito definitivo de la política europea es ejemplificativa de la construcción europea en espacios históricamente monopolizados por los legisladores nacionales. En efecto, en este ámbito se han superado en poco tiempo las limitaciones de la cooperación intergubernamental en el III Pilar que emergió con la entrada en vigor del TUE de 1992, tras su conversión en Espacio de Libertad, Seguridad y Justicia en el posterior Tratado de Ámsterdam de 1999. En este marco se adoptaron importantes Decisiones Marco (DM) que dieron pasos significativos en el ámbito de la cooperación judicial, mediante la implementación de medidas específicamente orientadas a la seguridad europea contra la criminalidad grave transfronteriza por la vía de la cooperación judicial en materia penal. La conversión del Espacio de Libertad, Seguridad y Justicia en una genuina política europea sujeta al procedimiento legislativo ordinario (con especialidades) tras el Tratado de Lisboa de 2009, junto a la proyección de la Carta de Derechos Fundamentales de la UE (en especial, de los principios de seguridad jurídica, de «proporcionalidad» y de «necesidad» y/o «subsidiariedad» en la articulación y aplicación de la legalidad penal) son ahora en efecto, la expresión más rotunda de la ambición política y de la dimensión constitucional de la UE. En paralelo a la entrada en vigor del Tratado de Lisboa, el Programa de Estocolmo, adoptado en diciembre 2009, estableció la conversión del antiguo acervo del III Pilar en una nueva y genuina política europea sujeta, por tanto, en lo sucesivo, al Derecho europeo. Los desarrollos futuros de los principios de primacía, eficacia directa, interpretación uniforme, seguridad jurídica y garantía jurisdiccional de los derechos de la ciudadanía, en el marco de las legislaciones internas en los EEMM de los que siguen siendo competentes los Parlamentos nacionales, requerirán un ejercicio intensivo de clarificación judicial por vía interpretativa, y por tanto, exigirá poner particular énfasis en la formación judicial, y del conjunto de las profesiones jurídicas, en la comprensión y manejo del Derecho europeo.The European approximation and/or harmonization in both criminal matters and criminal procedure legislation got started not so long ago: As a matter of fact, until recently, it all seemed a voluntary exercise of wishful thinking, in as much as it was making on a field so far preserved within the traditional realm of States’ sovereignty. The final incorporation of criminal law and criminal judicial cooperation to the sphere of European policy is an outstanding example of the european construction towards areas and competences that had been historically monopolised by national legislators. Indeed, the limitations in this matter of the intergovernmental cooperation in the Third Pillar that emerged with the entry into force of the TEU in 1992, after its conversion into the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice in the subsequent Treaty Amsterdam 1999, have been just recently overcome. Accordingly, some most important Framework Decisions (FD) meaning significant steps in the area of judicial cooperation were taken, through the implementation of specific measures on European security against serious cross-border crime by means of judicial cooperation in criminal matters. The conversion of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice is a genuine European policy subject to the ordinary legislative procedure (with some specialties) after the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009, together with the projection of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU (i.e., of the principles of legal certainty, of «proportionality» and «necessity» and/or «subsidiarity» in the articulation and application of criminal law) are now, in fact, the most visible expression of the EU’s political ambition and constitutional dimension.


2021 ◽  
pp. 203228442199492
Author(s):  
Catherine Van de Heyning

The submission discusses the provisions in the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement on data protection as well as the consequences for the exchange of passenger name record data in the field of criminal and judicial cooperation. The author concludes that the impact of the Agreement will depend on the resolvement of the United Kingdom to uphold the standards of protection of personal data equivalent to the EU’s in order to reach an adequacy decision.


2021 ◽  
pp. 203228442199593
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Schomburg ◽  
Anna Oehmichen ◽  
Katrin Kayß

As human rights have increasingly gained importance at the European Union level, this article examines the remaining scope of human rights protection under the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. While some international human rights instruments remain applicable, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union did not become part of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). The consequences, especially the inapplicability of the internationalised ne bis in idem principle, are analysed. Furthermore, the conditionality of the TCA in general as well as the specific conditionality for judicial cooperation in criminal matters are discussed. In this context, the risk that cooperation may cease at any moment if any Member State or the UK leave the European Convention of Human Rights is highlighted. Lastly, the authors raise the problem of the lack of judicial review, as the Court of Justice of the European Union is no longer competent.


2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 258-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomislav Sokol

Croatian accession to the eu included the implementation of the Council Framework Decision of 13 June 2002 on the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between Member States. The way Croatia implemented the eaw Framework Decision, however, has resulted in controversies and public attention, both in Croatia and other Member States, revealing many problems within the system of judicial cooperation in criminal matters within the eu. The aim of the paper is to investigate the implementation of the eaw Framework Decision within Croatia; to determine whether the manner in which the said Member State has carried out the implementation has highlighted a risk for the functioning of judicial cooperation in criminal matters within the eu; and which legal measures should be used in order to prevent disintegration of the cooperation from happening. Several legal measures are proposed, both on the national and the European level, to prevent the risk of further undermining the system of judicial cooperation within the eu. These measures are presented within the context of several overarching legal principles like (providing clearer definition of the notion of) non-verification of double criminality and protection of legal interests of the Member States issuing the European Arrest Warrant.


2013 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 83-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Forwood

AbstractThis chapter aims to explore some challenges that are likely to arise in the context of the UK’s present and future relationships with the EU. Three aspects come under scrutiny, namely the global opt-out available for the UK in the field of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters (Protocol 36 to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)), the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence and the contemplated 2017 referendum on whether the UK should remain an EU Member State. The chapter stresses not only the importance of restoring objectivity in the debates surrounding these issues, but also the necessity of taking due account of the uncertainties that these processes unavoidably entail as to their end results for both the UK and Scotland.


2008 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-72
Author(s):  
Olivia den Hollander

AbstractCurrently, the European Union is based on both supranational (first pillar) and international (second and third pillar) law. The third pillar signifies police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters and although formally based on international law, it has been under increasing "supranational pressure" by the developments in the "Area of Freedom, Security and Justice". This Area is focused on a set of common values and principles closely tied to those of the single market and its four "freedoms". The main argument of this article is that the legal framework of the third pillar is an impediment to judicial cooperation in criminal matters in general, and to the coordination of conflicts of jurisdiction and the principle of ne bis in idem in particular. The legal framework of the third pillar finds itself in the middle of an identity crisis, since it can neither be identified as a traditional intergovernmental, nor as a supranational institutional framework. Criminal law is a politically sensitive matter, which on the one hand explains why the EU member states are reluctant to submit their powers over the issue to the European level and on the other hand, it implies that if the EU member states really want to cooperate on such an intensive level, they will have to submit some of their powers in order to strengthen EU constitutional law. The article suggests a reform of the third pillar through the method of "communitization", which is exactly what will happen in case the EU Reform Treaty will enter into force. This would offer the ingredients for a true international community in which the ambitious agenda of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice can realise its aim of a common set of values and principles which supersedes those of each of the member states individually.


Author(s):  
Anastazja Gajda

The aim of the study is to present the proposals of legal regulations presented by the European Commission in one of the fields of Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (JHA), i.e. within the framework of judicial cooperation in criminal matters. The European Commission’s proposals aim at strengthening of the rights of suspects/defendants in criminal proceedings in the EU. They consist of the right to a fair trial and include: strengthening of the presumption of innocence principle and the right to be present at the trial, special safeguards for children suspected or accused of a crime and the right to provisional legal aid for citizens suspected or accused of a crime. In the paper I analysed the most important provisions of the projects and showed that these proposals are intended to ensure the protection of fundamental rights within the JHA.


2013 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 83-99
Author(s):  
Nicholas Forwood

Abstract This chapter aims to explore some challenges that are likely to arise in the context of the UK’s present and future relationships with the EU. Three aspects come under scrutiny, namely the global opt-out available for the UK in the field of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters (Protocol 36 to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)), the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence and the contemplated 2017 referendum on whether the UK should remain an EU Member State. The chapter stresses not only the importance of restoring objectivity in the debates surrounding these issues, but also the necessity of taking due account of the uncertainties that these processes unavoidably entail as to their end results for both the UK and Scotland.


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