Annual Conferences

Which jurisdictional control in the European penal area?

The planned conference aims at studying thoroughly the content of jurisdictional control in the European penal area.

Considering the recent evolution of the competences of the European Court of Justice  in the penal sector and considering its recent activism in the field, the contribution of the European Court of Justice to European penal area will be the core of the event. Indeed, in spite of the restrictions which continue to tarnish the jurisdictional control that it exerts, the Court of Justice recently delivered some essential judgments, as for example its decision of February 11, 2003 in the case Criminal proceedings v. Klaus Brügge and Hüseyn Gözütoc, where it declared the principle of “mutual trust”, its decision of June 16, 2005 in the case Criminal proceedings v. Maria Pupino, through which it reinforced the legal binding nature of the framework decisions or its decision of September 13, 2005 in the case Commission v. Council, through which it extended the scope of the Community method in criminal law.

The planned conference will be the occasion to carry out a thorough analysis of the impact of the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice in the sector. With this purpose, three axes will be followed.

The first axis will aim at examining the answers given by the Court of Justice to the conflicts of legal basis between the first and third pillars; the reactions to these decisions of the other European institutions – such as the European Commission, the European Parliament or the Council - will be also examined. The second axis will be devoted to the study of the impact of the decisions of the Court of Justice on the national laws and to the reactions of the supreme or constitutional Courts of various Member States. The opportunity will be seized of examining to what extent the European court decisions are taken into account on the States internal level and to what extent the national jurisdictions establish a dialogue with the Court. The third axis will concern prospects. In this respect, attention shall be paid to the need and the current prospects for reform of the preliminary ruling procedure before the Court and to the current ICG.