Aims

- Deepening students' understanding of criminal law and criminal procedure instruments adopted by the European Union and the Council of Europe
- Study of the question of inter-state cooperation in criminal law, which is gradually evolving towards a process of legal integration
- Consultation and rigorous analysis of the relevant legal instruments (treaties, acts, etc.) and of the decisions delivered by the European or Belgian courts
- Improvement of speaking and writing skills
- Development of a critical sense
- Active participation in the teaching.

Main themes

The plan of the course is as follows:
a) the emergence of European criminal law;
b) substantive criminal law (i.e. mostly the offences that are held to be punishable);
c) administrative, customs and police cooperation in criminal matters;
d) judicial cooperation in criminal matters;
e) the actors in the European criminal justice system;
f) the development of a criminological Europe within the Council of Europe;
g) European protection of fundamental rights in criminal matters (the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights).

Content and teaching methods

The teaching method promotes active and participatory learning based on practical and topical questions.

Following a general introduction by the lecturers, students are given a group assignment and have to analyse a number of practical questions related to police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters in the European Union, on the one hand, and to the criminal aspects of the European Convention on Human Rights, on the other

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Evaluation methods will be double.
Students will be evaluated during the term, on the oral and written presentation of their group assignment.
An oral examination at the end of the term will permit to refine their mark. It will cover all the topics discussed during the course, but will be an open book exam in order to avoid as much as possible the memorizing effort.

Other credits in programs