Home/Vakken/Transnational Criminal Law Enforcement: Cooperation in Criminal Matters between the EU Member States
RGMUSTR1417.5 ECTSQ1EnglishMaster

Transnational Criminal Law Enforcement: Cooperation in Criminal Matters between the EU Member States

FaculteitFaculty of Law, Economics and Governance
NiveauMaster
Studiejaar2026-2027

Beschrijving

Course goals

After this Course:
 
  • The student has in-depth knowledge and understanding of the different systems of horizontal police and judicial cooperation in the field of criminal enforcement within the European Union, such as their historical developments (from an intergovernmental mutual assistance to a more supranational mutual recognition of judicial decisions), their differences, their scope of application, the interaction between them and their impact on fundamental rights;
  • The student had in-depth knowledge and understanding of the interactions between national, EU and international law in the context of police and judicial cooperation founded on mutual trust and respect for human rights, in the context, for example, of operations of mutual recognition in the field of transfer of criminal proceedings or of persons subject to criminal prosecution or persons sentenced to imprisonment;                                          
  • The student is able to delve deeper into the case law of the CJEU and ECtHR, analyze relevant judgments dealing with issues discussed in the context of lectures and seminars, and reflect critically on these judgments in light of the knowledge acquired. The student is able to connect theory and practice – in particular by analysing and proposing solutions provided by the CJEU to the difficult legal issues posed by the cases under scrutiny – on the basis of the theoretical knowledge and insights that have been obtained;                                                          
  • The student can reflect on their own professional functioning in their role as a researcher and observer of the CJEU, ECtHR and EU legislator.

Content

How did cooperation in criminal matters in Europe change within the last twenty years? Is, for example, the work of a public prosecutor or a police officer the same today as it was twenty years ago? With the opening of the borders between EU Member States new priorities in the fight against crime have appeared. With them, the horizontal judicial and police cooperation in criminal matters has been completely reshaped. This course explains how mutual assistance is progressively replaced by European forms of cooperation, such as the European Arrest Warrant, joint investigation teams, the European Investigation Order or the European Production Order.

The transnational nature of today’s criminality requires actors of the fight against crime to cooperate fast and efficiently while respecting individual’s fundamental rights. In Europe, horizontal cooperation has traditionally happened between States as a result of intergovernmental negotiations under the aegis of the Council of Europe. An impressive web of conventions regulates for example the exchange of information, mutual legal assistance in criminal matters or extradition. The creation of the EU, and in particular, the decision to offer its citizens an area of freedom, security and justice has drastically modified the nature of this cooperation, which has become much more supranational and much less intergovernmental. A new model of cooperation emerges that is based on level of mutual trust that is much higher than before. It allows especially the operation of principles such as the principle of availability of information granting police forces the right to obtain information from the authorities of another Member State or the principle of mutual recognition of judicial decisions issued in other Member States regardless of the differences existing between justice systems. Where cooperation in criminal matters used to be based on political decisions, it is now almost fully in the hands of police and judicial authorities. Thanks to this evolution crime is more efficiently prevented and combatted. Nevertheless, the backsliding of the rule of law in certain EU Member States puts this new model at risk.

Explaining first of all the evolution of horizontal cooperation in criminal matters, this course will identify the various models of cooperation that co-exist in the day to day practice of national authorities. The essential toolbox necessary for every lawyer willing to work in the context of law enforcement will be explained. The course will take you, to name but a few, through issues concerning police cooperation and exchange of information, the gathering of foreign (digital)evidence and its use in the criminal process, the European Arrest Warrant procedure and the transfer of sentenced persons.
In addition to the lectures on these topics, weekly seminars will propose concrete cases of cooperation that the students will have to resolve under the supervision of the teacher by using the knowledge acquired. In addition, discussion of the case law of the CJEU and ECtHR will provide the students with the skills to understand the implications of the principles pertaining to the new model of cooperation in criminal matters and critically analyze the practice of the CJEU and ECtHR. It will also show them the concrete influences that serious threats to the rule of law may exert on judicial cooperation and more generally on the fight against crime.
 
Place of the course within the curriculum:
  • Compulsory course in the master European Criminal Justice in a Global Context.
  • Compulsory course in the specialisation European Criminal Justice of the master European Law.
  • Compulsory course in the specialisation European Criminal Justice of the master Criminal Law (Strafrecht).

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