The EU and International Criminal Justice

Course goals

After this course:

• The student has in-depth knowledge and understanding of the EU’s role and competences, as well as its legislative and operational powers in the domain of global criminal justice and security, focussing on core international crimes and transnational crimes (such as terrorism or cybercrime), including their fundamental rights dimensions; 
• The student has in-depth knowledge and understanding of the relevant international and EU legal sources concerning substantive and procedural criminal law in relation to core international crimes and transnational crimes;
• The student understands and is able to critically assess the mechanisms for enforcement cooperation and coordination in said areas between the relevant EU authorities (Europol and Eurojust), its partners at the Member State level, and partners at the international level (including the International Criminal Court);
•  The student can form and formulate, in writing as well as orally, opinions and solutions concerning challenges relating to ways to strengthen rules and tools developed at the EU level with a view to fighting impunity for core international crimes and other cross-border crimes (such as cybercrime or terrorism);
• By giving a presentation together with other students, making use of all technological tools at their disposal (including Generative A.I. software), the student is able to delve deeper into contentious issues at the intersection of EU law and international (criminal) law, developing their ability to cooperate with peers and their research and critical thinking skills. In particular, the student has improved the skills necessary to gather and process information through different means in a scientifically sound manner (including the use of technological tools), to develop convincing argumentations, and thus to communicate their views to an academic audience.

 

Content

The ongoing conflict in Ukraine and its implications demonstrate that the European Union and its Member States are increasingly faced with external threats to security and justice on the European territory. The commission of core international crimes, cybercrimes, and terrorist acts not only threatens peace and security, but also the EU legal order as a whole. This begs several important questions. For instance, what is and what should be the role of the European Union on the global scene, when it comes to the prevention, investigation and prosecution of these types of crimes? Can this still be considered the exclusive domain of its Member States? What legislative measures at the international level are needed to support the goals of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ)? And how does the international setting in turn influence policy making, legislation and law enforcement within the AFSJ? How does the external dimension of the AFSJ relate to other policy fields of the EU, e.g in relation to external security? Should there be an operational role for EU authorities on the international level, too? And how does this take shape?

Indeed, to address these questions and challenges, EU institutions and Member States have increasingly conceived and deployed initiatives at both the legislative as well as at the operational levels, in accordance with the Treaties (most notably, Title V of the TEU and Articles 216 and 218 of the TFEU). For example, the EU has developed overarching policies concerning the external threats to the EU legal order. It has also elaborated specific legislative instruments (e.g., Framework Decisions and Directives) to combat such threats – specifically through criminal law (Article 83 TFEU) – that often build and expand upon pre-existing international treaties. The EU has also concluded agreements with international organisations (e.g., the International Criminal Court) or third countries. Furthermore, the EU and its Member States constantly cooperate on an operational level with the authorities in third countries (such as the United States and Canada), international institutions (such as the International Criminal Court), and private actors (such as communications service providers or airlines). The EU also relies on different tools with the aim of coordinating Member States’ investigations (for instance, through the involvement of Eurojust or in the context of Joint Investigation Teams) and contributing to delivering justice to victims (for example, through the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office and more recently, the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine).

In this course, we will analyse and discuss the constitutional, legislative and operational features and implications of the EU’s criminal justice agenda in a global context. The course is divided into three distinct yet interrelated parts:
•         Firstly, we will set the stage by presenting the EU in its role as a global actor in international criminal justice, the legislative and policy competences the EU has in accordance with the Treaties as regards international criminal justice, and the EU’s close connection to international organisations and fora (such as the UN, the International Criminal Court, and the Council of Europe) and ‘third’ States (for example, the US and Canada);
•         Secondly, we will focus on the applicable legal ‘playing field’, including the substantive (the criminal offences) and procedural (the investigation and prosecution of such offences) dimensions. In particular, we will study the so-called ‘core international crimes’ (genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression) as well as transnational crimes (such as cybercrime or terrorism). We will discuss the legal definition of the said crimes, the avenues for accountability, as well as challenges relating to the protection of fundamental rights;
•         Thirdly, we will discuss specific initiatives that have been deployed by the EU in operational matters, such as the role the EU can play in establishing tribunals (for instance, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office or the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine), the relevant competences of EU agencies (Eurojust, Europol), as well as the coordination and support provided to investigations conducted by Member States through the establishment of Joint Investigation Teams (such as the Joint Investigation Team focusing on the investigation of core international crimes committed in Ukraine).
 
Learning goals of the course
The course The EU and International Criminal Justice contributes to achieving the final qualifications of the master’s programme European Criminal Justice in a Global Context. Content-oriented learning objectives aim to strengthen the knowledge and insights, while skills-oriented objectives aim to develop crucial skills through means of ‘learning by doing’.



 

• 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).