EU Criminal Law

After a general introduction, the course will be divided into 5 main parts:

• Institutional aspects (I);
• Cooperation mechanisms (police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters), including external relations  (II);
• Actors of cooperation, including external relations (III); 
• Approximations of legislations (substantive and procedural criminal law) (IV);
• Sectoral approach : the case of terrorism, including external relations (V).

The primary objective of this course is to introduce students to EU criminal law, both in its internal dimension, i.e. relations between the EU Member States, and in its external dimension, through the EU’s criminal law relations with third countries (in particular the Schengen-associated countries, the United Kingdom, the United States and Japan) and with international organisations (mainly the Council of Europe).

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

• Situate the main stages in the development of the EU area of criminal justice in their historical and institutional context, identifying the major advances brought about by the successive revisions of the EU treaties;
• Understand and analyse the principles and mechanisms underpinning judicial cooperation in criminal matters within the EU, based on an in-depth study of a selection of key instruments;
• Identify the main actors facilitating cooperation in criminal matters, understand their respective competences and their evolution, and analyse the relationships of complementarity and, where appropriate, competition between their mandates and activities;
• Adopt a critical perspective on the development and functioning of the EU area of criminal justice, identifying the main tensions, limitations, and challenges it faces, particularly with regard to the protection of fundamental rights, State sovereignty and the effectiveness of cooperation.

Please note that the course will be taught in English.

Required and Corequired knowledge and skills

N/A

Teaching will primarily take the form of lectures, complemented by preparatory reading before each class. For each session, a selection of compulsory and recommended readings will be made available to students on the teaching platform. These readings are intended to familiarise students with the concepts, instruments and issues that will be addressed in class and to encourage active participation during the sessions.

To provide complementary perspectives and exposure to professional practice, some sessions may also feature guest speakers of external experts, including EU officials and practitioners with particular expertise in the field under study. These contributions will enable students to relate the theoretical material covered in the course to the institutional and practical realities of cooperation in criminal matters.

References, bibliography, and recommended reading

For the students who wish to deepen their knowledge or to complete a "travail de fin d'études" on this subject, a selective bibliography is made available on the Université virtuelle platform. It includes books, academic articles, institutional documents and other useful resources for further study of the various topics covered in the course. The references are regularly updated and classified according to the division of the course into five main parts.

Course notes

• Université virtuelle

Additional information

N/A

Campus

Solbosch

Method(s) of evaluation

• Oral examination

Oral examination

• Open question with short answer
• Open question with long development

The evaluation will be based on an oral exam which will take place at the end of the first semester (January). The exam will consist in one or more open question(s) with short answer (restitution) and one open question with longer development (reflection). The questions  will be chosen at random by the students; they will be formulated in English but the students are free to answer in French or in English.

Mark calculation method (including weighting of intermediary marks)

The oral exam will account for the whole of the final mark. It should be noted that active participation during the course and preparation of each session using the readings indicated will be duly taken into account.

Language(s) of evaluation

• english
• (if applicable french )