Understanding the role of the European Court of Justice in criminal matters
- Actions, procedure, case-law
Objective
The project aims to prepare EU criminal legal practitioners for the full jurisdiction of the Court in criminal matters, on actions, procedure and case law, enabling a consistent and uniform application of EU law in line with the most recent procedure and recommendations.
Background
One of the major changes introduced by the Lisbon Treaty concerns the competence of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on acts adopted under the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ).Prior to the Lisbon Treaty, the Court had limited jurisdiction in the former “Third Pillar”. The preliminary ruling procedure was applicable only if the member state agreed to it and made a formal declaration (former art. 35 TEU).
The Lisbon Treaty gave the CJEU full competence on existing EU law in criminal matters, subject to a transitional period of five years, to expire 1 December 2014. On new EU criminal law instruments, however the jurisdiction of the Court has no restrictions.
Based on its new rules of procedure, in force since September 2012, the Court issued in November 2012 new Recommendations to national courts and tribunals in relation to the initiation of preliminary ruling proceedings.