EU Criminal Law and Policy: Values, Principles and Methods

The EU now possesses a clear legal basis for taking action on criminal law matters and steering the policy and practice of Member States in relation to crime and criminal law. However, for what is now an important area of law, there remains a striking absence or uncertainty regarding its theoretical basis, its legitimacy and its conceptual vocabulary.

This book offers a review of the significance of EU criminal law and crime policy as a rapidly emerging phenomenon in European law and governance. Bringing together an international set of contributors, the book questions the nature, role and objectives of ‘criminal law’, its relationship with other areas of EU policy and law, and the established rules of criminal law and criminal justice at the Member State level.

Taking up such subjects as national boundaries, effective enforcement, and restorative justice, the book helps to structure an increasingly significant subject in law which is still finding its direction. The book will be of great use and interest to researchers and students of EU law, criminal justice, and criminology.