Recent Developments in the Area of European Criminal Law
This contribution tries to highlight and scrutinize recent developments in the dynamic area of European criminal law at both the EC and EU level. In so doing the paper focuses on three judgments each providing new perspectives on, in particular, but not only, how far the Court of Justice is prepared to go in its role as integration activist; by identifying the principle of effectiveness as forming the leitmotif in the chase for constitutional evolution of European criminal law. The paper concludes, after also having discussed current legislative initiatives presented by the Commission, by asserting the need for caution and critical assessment.
Overcoming offence diversities in EU policy making: needs and feasibility assessment
Starting from the observation that criminal law is different in each of the member states as a result of which (1) what constitutes an offence in one member state does not necessarily constitute an offence in another member state, (2) even where offences are equally criminalised in all member states, the sanction levels may still vary and (3) more generally, the position of the offences in the entirety of the justice system may vary, the question arises to what extent those so-called offence diversities are an obstacle for EU policy making and to what extent it is feasible to overcome those obstacles. The doctoral research underpinned the need for the development of an EU offence policy, using the common criminalisation acquis as a centre piece. The common criminalisation acquis can help (1) to ensure comparability of crime statistics, (2) to avoid redundant double criminality testing, (3) to overcome evidence gathering difficulties, (4) to clarify the mandates of the EU level actors, (5) to identify the equivalent national sentence and (6) to scope the taking account of prior convictions. The only condition: the development of an EU offence policy.
The Arab Spring: The End of Postcolonialism
* Introduction: The Arab Spring: The End of Postcoloniality * 1. Decentering the World: How the Arab Spring Unfolded * 2. Towards Liberation Geography * 3. A New Language of Revolt * 4. Discovering a New World * 5. From the Green Movement to the Jasmine Revolutions * 6. The center cannot hold * 7. The End of Postcolonialism * 8. Race, Gender, and Class in Transnational Revolutions * 9. Libya: The Crucible * 10. Delayed Defiance * Conclusion. The People Demand the Overthrow of the Regime