The Emergence of EU Criminal Law

Criminal law can no longer be neatly categorised as the product and responsibility of domestic law. That this is true is emphasised by the ever-increasing amount of legislation stemming from the European Union (EU) which impacts, both directly and indirectly, on the criminal law. The involvement of the EU institutions in the substantive criminal laws of its Member States is of considerable legal and political significance. This book deals with the emerging EU framework for creating, harmonising and ensuring the application of EU criminal law.This book aims to highlight some of the consequences of EU involvement in the criminal law by examining the provisions which have been adopted in the field of information and communications technology. It provides an overview of the criminal law competence of the EU and evaluates the impact of these developments on the criminal laws of the Member States. It then goes on to consider the EU legislation which requires Member States to regulate matters such as data protection, e-security, intellectual property and various types of illegal content through the criminal law is analysed. In the course of this evaluation, particular consideration is given to issues such as the basis on which the EU institutions establish the need for criminal sanctions, the liability of service providers and the extent to which the Member States have adhered to, or departed from, the legislation in the course of implementation.

1: The Development of EU Criminal Law I Introduction II Substantive Criminal Law in the Third Pillar III The Criminal Law Competence of the European Community IV Beyond Environmental Protection: Community Involvement in the Criminal Law 2: EU Criminal Law after Lisbon I Introduction II Criminal Law Competence according to the Lisbon Treaty III EU Criminal Offences: Areas of the Substantive Criminal Law Subjected to 'Approximation' IV EU Criminal Law and Policy after Lisbon 3: EU Legislation in the Field of Information and Communications Technology 85 I Introduction II The Development of the EU Legislation concerning ICT III Changes in EU Competence IV Current State of Affairs V Conclusions 4: Criminal Law and the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights I Intellectual Property and Copyright in the Information Society II EU Copyright Protection Measures III Extra-European Initiatives IV ACTA V Conclusions 5: Content Regulation and the Criminal Law I Introduction II The Development of Content Regulation and the Role of ICT III Distinguishing Criminal from Lawful Content IV EU Provisions Criminalising Content V Conclusions 6: Criminal Law and the Safeguarding of Privacy I Introduction II Key Issues for Privacy in the Information Age III Conclusions 229 7: Cybercrime I Introduction II EU Criminal Law and Cybercrime III Harmonisation and General Principles of Criminal Law Conclusions: Criminalisation, Harmonisation, Europeanisation I Criminalisation II Harmonisation III Europeanisation