EU Criminal Law and Justice (Elgar European Law)

Today, EU criminal law and justice constitutes a significant body of law potentially affecting most aspects of criminal justice. This book provides a comprehensive, accessible yet analytically challenging account of the institutional and legal developments in this field to date. It also includes full consideration of the prospective changes to EU criminal law contained in the recent 'Lisbon Treaty'. While, broadly speaking, the authors welcome the objectives of EU criminal law, they call for a profound rethinking of how the good of criminal justice - however defined - is to be delivered to those living in the EU.At present, despite sometimes commendable initiatives from the institutions responsible, the actual framing and implementation of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ) suffers from a failure to properly consider the theoretical implications of providing the good of criminal justice at the EU level. Comprising a full overview of the key legal developments and debates and including a user-friendly guide to the prospective institutional changes contained in the 'Reform Treaty', "EU Criminal Law and Justice" will be of interest to both undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as to legal practitioners and policy makers at the national and EU levels.