Lecture reader for the series of lectures Part IV

1. The Constitutionalisation and Evolution of Penal Law and Control Policy in the European Integration Lecture reader for the series of lectures Part IV The Project of the European Area of Freedom, Security and Justice in a wider constitutional context and the Draft Treaty on the Constitution by Counsellor, docent, Dr Tuomas Pöysti Counsellor, docent, Dr Tuomas Pöysti

2. Treaty of Amsterdam and the politics of European criminal law • The European Union as an area of Freedom, Security and Justice • Targets of the Integration • legitimacy of the Union: Citizens are concerned about their security in the globalising and increasingly border-free world and Europe. EU can provide security and for the governments compensate the loss of governance and control • ultima ratio of criminal law • threatening effect - dissuasive sanctions • rational control of social problems • symbolic value of criminal law. Criminal law resembles power and morality. For different reasons different stances to European integration want to associate new criminal law to Europe • Towards the Area of European Criminal Law & Justice Counsellor, docent, Dr Tuomas Pöysti

3. Recent trends and achievements in the field of substantive criminal law and procedure • Accelerated implementation of the programme as agreed in the Tampere European Council Conclusions • Mutual assistance convention • European arrest warrant • Framework decision on terrorism • Other new framework decisions on: • corruption in the private sector – compare the UN convention • environmental crime • Problems: • bad quality of initial law-drafting • too political nature of the legislative programming: instruments are adopted to show willingness to tackle issues, not necessarily on the basis of practical social needs. Competition between the different Council presidencies worsens the situation Counsellor, docent, Dr Tuomas Pöysti

4. The Role of the EU in Penal law • Formation of the criminal policy is to an increasing extent a matter of the Union • the Union is the policy level and the national law is to implement • Application of the EU originated penal law by the national judges • the national courts still apply the Member States substantive penal law. On mutual assistance some direct references to the Convention / framework decisions will / may be necessary • some difficult issues of convergence within the criminal law system or criminal procedure. The sanction levels required by the framework decisions may differ from the logic of the domestic penal law Counsellor, docent, Dr Tuomas Pöysti

5. The first and third pillar approach compared • Co-operation in the field of criminal justice • polity; for political symbolism • lack of coherent drafting and legislative policy • lack of adequate knowledge base • First pillar • de facto criminal law via administrative law • blurring of the boundaries of the bodies of law; un-clarity • better knowledge base and drafting procedure • established institutional rules and liabilities Counsellor, docent, Dr Tuomas Pöysti

6. The draft Constitution for Europe • Merger of the pillars and the single legal personality of the European Union. • Establishment and maintenance of the European Area of Freedom, Security and Justice would gain an even strengthened status among the objectives of the Union and among the core projects of European integration. Area of Freedom, Security and Justice would also be defined as an area of shared competencies between the Union and the Member States • The co-operation in criminal matters and the approximation of laws in substantive criminal law and criminal procedure would be part of the general European Union law and law-making • Simplification and reduction the number of different decision-making procedures and legal instruments. Counsellor, docent, Dr Tuomas Pöysti

7. Draft Constitution for Europe and Criminal law and procedure • article III-158: The Union shall constitute an area of freedom, security and justice with respect for fundamental rights, taking into account the different legal traditions and systems of the Member States. • legal pluralism within a unitary metasystem and polity • article III-159: a particular role for the European Council in the setting of the strategic guidelines for the legislative and operational planning • Sovereignty issue and inter-governmentalism • article III-161: particular evaluation mechanism for the follow-up of the implementation of the concept of mutual recognition and Union policy Counsellor, docent, Dr Tuomas Pöysti

8. Section IV of part III of the Draft Treaty on Constitution • Art. III-171: judicial co-operation in criminal matters shall be based on the mutual recognition • Idea: European-wide effect of judicial and law-enforcement action without supranational competencies. Inter-governmentalist point of departure but quest for efficiency calls for far-reaching co-operation • In order to facilitate mutual recognition minimum rules on the admissibility of evidence between Member States, rights of the individual in the criminal procedure and the rights of victims of crime by European framework law • Framework law (loi-cadre) will replace current directives as legislative instrument. Framework laws would adopted, unless particularly specified, in legislative procedure in which there is a proposal from the Commission, Readings of the Council and the Parliament and adoption by the Council by qualified majority vote and the final say (veto) in the Parliament. In section IV and V of part legislative proposal may be presented also a group of Member States representing at leas one fourth of the Member States Counsellor, docent, Dr Tuomas Pöysti

9. Section IV continued • The Council could define in a European decision, adopted unanimously, also other areas to be covered by the minimum rules • The minimum rules do not prevent a Member State to enact higher level of protection • Idea of the minimum rules is to provide for the minimum guarantees of rule of law, not necessarily the efficiency and expediencey of law enforcement and judicial co-operation Counsellor, docent, Dr Tuomas Pöysti

10. Art. III-172 on the harmonisation of criminal law • Para 1: list of cross-border serious crime in which European framework laws may establish minimum rules concerning the definition of criminal offences and sanctions • fairly well-defined and limited in the spirit of the principle of conferral of powers which is among the fundamental constitutional principles of the Union law • double criteria: cross-border, serious crime enumerated in the list. • list may be amended by an unanimous decision of the Council after the consent of the European Parliament • draft list: terrorism, trafficking in human beings and sexual exploitation of women and children, illicit drug trafficking, illicit arms trafficking, money laundering, corruption, counterfeiting of means of payment, computer crime and organised crime Counsellor, docent, Dr Tuomas Pöysti

11. Art. III-172 continued • Para 2:’’If the approximation of criminal legislation proves essential to ensure the effective implementation of a Union policy in an area which has been subject to harmonisation measures, European framework laws may establish minimum rules with regard to the definition of criminal offences and sanctions in the area concerned’’. • would open the possibility for widening the positive effect of the European law to special provisions of criminal law. Would lead to increased fragmentation and differentiation in the system of penal law Counsellor, docent, Dr Tuomas Pöysti

12. Art III-173 and 174 • Eurojust could be given powers to initiate and co-ordinate prosecutions to be conducted by the Member States prosecutors in a European law (loi européenne) • European law would replace the current regulations as binding and directly applicable legislative instrument • A European Public Prosecutor Office could be established from the Eurojust. Requires an unanimous European law of the Council and the consent of the European parliament • Significant resistance among the Member States, will be dropped from the Constitutional Treaty Counsellor, docent, Dr Tuomas Pöysti

13. Section V of the part III: police co-operation • Constitutionally recognised and strenghthened role for the Europol • Measures of operational co-operation shall adopted by the Council unanimously • sovereignty doctrine maintained • Joint investigative teams of Europol and Member States authorities • Europol operations shall be carried out in liason with and in agreement with the Member States in whose territory the operation takes place Counsellor, docent, Dr Tuomas Pöysti

14. Summarising remarks of the Constitutionalisation and Evolution • The draft constitutional treaty represents a direct continuity for the gradual development which already has taken place • The radical change would be the supra-national legislative powers of the Union and qualified majority voting concerning criminal procedure and substantive criminal law in limited but fairly wide areas • Many mechanisms put in place to maintain inter-governmental features of the European Area of Freedom, Security and Justice in criminal matters • Differentiation and pluralism of criminal justice system is the picture of the future • Theoretically the model of multi-layered governance is followed. There is a particular and fairly occasional mixture of universalist and particularist elements in the Constitutional system • The strengthened role of the European Commission will lead to better law-making and to a more rational policy-making provided that the Commission invests enough attention and human resources to the field. Attainment of that requires changes in the Commission and in its culture. Counsellor, docent, Dr Tuomas Pöysti

15. Optimal legal communications and the system-building in penal law • How the law and regulatory policy should be formulated and which professional stance the criminal law specialists should take • General criteria • rule of law -principles • human dignity and inviolability • rights and freedoms of the individual • Efficiency of human rights and remedies • protection of individual rights in international networks • The following activities / agents of legal system have particular roles; • Law-drafting & law-making (legislator and government law-drafters) • Judge • Legal Science & Legal education Counsellor, docent, Dr Tuomas Pöysti

16. The Legislator and the judge encounters the EU penal law • Law-drafting and the Europeanisation of Penal Justice • Optimal introduction of the European elements into national legal order • The general doctrines meet the European meta-principles and special demands • Legislator is the main addressee of the EU law • Judge • The role of ECJ in the interpretation of law • Application of sanction norms in the directives / framework laws; not against the individual • Regulations/European laws directly applicable; principle of the legal efficiency of Community law • Procedure • effet utile of European law • Lawyer and legal science and education: a European and International Criminal lawyer needed Counsellor, docent, Dr Tuomas Pöysti