The idea of the European Public Prosecutor's Office as a supranational body has been part of the academic and political discussion on the development of the common area of criminal justice of the ...European Union since the 1990s. The European Commission presented a proposal for the establishment of such a body in 2013, which was followed by negotiations between the member states and the EU institutions, in order to find a balance between the preservation of the sovereignty of the member states in the domain of criminal law and the effective protection of supranational value, i.e. the protection of the financial interests of the Union. The European Public Prosecutor's Office was established in 2017, and represents a form of enhanced cooperation between member states that have decided to participate in the work of the European Public Prosecutor's Office. After the organizational, normative, personnel and technical prerequisites have been met, the European Public Prosecutor's Office started its work on June 1, 2021. In this paper, the authors analyze the process of fulfilling the previous conditions, the beginning of work and the activities of the European Public Prosecutor's Office so far.
The prevention and suppression of terrorist crimes within the European Union are subject of discussion at the European level, currently characterised by a heterogenous substantive framework that ...bears the risk of an insufficient response, particularly with regards to the massive spreading of terrorist content online. Indeed, while Directive 2017/541/EU provides a comprehensive discipline on the deterrence and repression of terrorist conducts, the EU is only just starting to address the specific problem of the illicit use of the internet by terrorists. Thus, the Commission's initiative to extend the competences of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) to transnational terrorist crimes has timely recognised how the EU lacks a European level of prosecution and any compelling power towards domestic authorities. This creates gaps in investigations and proceedings in one Member State that may result in casualties or risks in the Union as a whole. This Article argues that the EPPO should consequently represent the central authority entrusted with the power to directly enforce instructions upon national prosecutors and to coordinate their joint actions in the field. This Article also suggests that Eurojust and Europol's capability as specialised agencies in this area should be enhanced on the basis of their well-established expertise on the subject.
The Institute of Enhanced Cooperation (EnC) was introduced by the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997) but it was made more flexible and operational by the Treaty of Lisbon (2007). Its main objective was to ...overcome the blockages in the law-making process, as well as to strengthen the cooperation among EU member states and deepen the integration process in specific areas. In this paper, the authors examine the institute of enhanced cooperation as a form of flexible and differentiated integration. The authors first present a brief historical overview of the legal regulation of this institute in the provisions of the founding treaties of the EU. Then, they provide an overview of the sources of law adopted within the framework of enhanced cooperation in certain areas of Private International Law, and particularly for the purpose of establishing the European Public Prosecutor's Office. Based on the analysis of a number of legal acts adopted within this institute, the authors draw a conclusion that the institute of enhanced cooperation has only partially justified its contractually defined role. Viewed from the perspective of the legal order of the European Union as a whole, this institute requires special attention due to the particularities of its application, which ultimately entails different solutions in the EU member states on certain issues of particular importance for legal and natural persons in the Union. There is no doubt that this institute provides many opportunities to the EU member states in terms of realizing or deepening their cooperation in certain issues, particularly if it is perceived as a stage on the way to establishing general, common rules for all member states. However, its application may challenge the unity and the integral structure of the EU legal order. It may also be inconsistent with some of the basic EU legal principles which have been continuously strengthened and expanded by the Court of Justice of the EU. Above all, it refers to the principle of unity of the legal order, the principle of prohibition of discrimination on the basis of citizenship, and the principle of legal certainty.
The European Public Prosecutor's Office (hereafter EPPO) was established by way of enhanced cooperation, with the adoption of Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 (hereafter EPPO Regulation). It has the ...power to conduct criminal investigations and to directly act as the prosecuting authority before national criminal courts, which is revolutionary. Interestingly, the EPPO Regulation does not explicitly regulate the relation between the EPPO and national judges at the pre-trial stage, who may intervene punctually or, in some cases, even conduct the investigation. Indeed, some civil law systems have a system of shared investigation powers between the public prosecutor and the investigating judge, meaning that the latter conducts a judicial inquiry, while the former is responsible for the prosecution. This raises the delicate question whether a judicial inquiry is compatible with the EPPO Regulation. This Article analyses this question, which hugely impacts the implementation of the EPPO, with respect to the Belgian legal system, based on a close reading of the EPPO Regulation and taking into account its drafting history. It will argue that the EPPO Regulation is not per se irreconcilable with a judicial inquiry as the Member States did not wish the EPPO Regulation to alter the way in which criminal investigations are organised at national level. Subsequently, it will examine how an EPPO investigation conducted by an investigating judge can practically function and evaluate the Belgian EPPO Act. While the analysis concentrates on Belgium, the underlying reasoning may also be useful for other Member States with a similar legal system.
(Series Information) European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration, 2021 6(1), 335-356 | Article | (Table of Contents) I. La création du Parquet européen: de réels enjeux pour la défense - II. ...La défense face à l'absence d'uniformité des garanties procédurales. - II.1. Les difficultés liées à la mosaïque de droits nationaux applicables - II.2. Les incertitudes liées au contrôle juridictionnel des actes du Parquet européen. - III. La défense face à l'absence d'égalité des armes. - III.1. Le constat de déséquilibre né de la création du Parquet européen. - III.2. Les propositions visant à rétablir le droit à un procès équitable. | (Abstract) With the creation of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO), the position of the defence is weakened. The EPPO Regulation does not set up specific procedural safeguards that are designed to apply to its proceedings: it mainly refers to national law and the minimum guarantees provided under EU law. Moreover, the national courts have competence to rule on the procedural acts of the EPPO and only a few of these acts are subject to EU judicial review. The defendants, in transnational cases, have no foreseeability on the rights and remedies granted to them. This Article is aimed at depicting the main issues that the defence faces in front of the EPPO. More specifically, it focuses on the lack of equality of arms between defence and prosecution in this context. However, the Article proposes some remedies that could be put in place in order to improve the defendant's right to a fair trial, in particular the institutionalisation of a European Criminal Defence network.
Background: Currently in Ukraine, a significant objective is to promote the construction of a peaceable and open society, ensuring access to justice for all. Such a system must be effective, ...accountable, and based on the broad participation of institutions at all levels. This article highlights some of the priority steps in the recovery of the justice system in Ukraine. Special attention is given to the priority goals and problematic aspects of the functioning of the institutions of the national justice system, given the declared aim of forming a sustainable justice system. Current challenges in the field of national justice, priority goals and appropriate measures for their achievement have all been analysed.
Methods: To achieve the goals of the research, general and special scientific research methods were applied, such as comparative-legal and semantic-structural methods and the method of grouping, analysis, synthesis, and generalisation.
Results and Conclusions: It has been established that the first priority goal of ensuring proper functioning of the judiciary is structural modernisation and optimisation of judicial authorities, including a comprehensive audit of the powers of bodies and institutions of the justice system in order to eliminate duplication of functions and ensure procedures for the effective use of resources.
The following were substantiated as risks for achieving such a goal: controversial recognition of the impossibility of the state to be solely responsible for the duration of processes for updating the authorised composition of judicial governance bodies; proposals for the transformation of the system of professional training and professional development of judges; the lack of objective justification for the determination of judicial jurisdiction for the consideration of certain categories of cases; and proposals for recognising the long-term consideration in the parliament of the Draft Law on abolition of the Bar monopoly.
Current trends in the development of functions of advocacy in Ukraine have been highlighted, including selective and inconsistent implementation of bar monopoly on representation of another person in court; restriction of the rights of the Bar self-government bodies in the field of forming judicial corps, extension of the state's control powers advocacy; and the search for an optimal model of governance of the advocacy profession. The key challenges of the prosecutor's office, and priority goals and measures for their achievement, have been highlighted. The possible risks of further reform of this institution due to the disputed constitutionality of its personnel, which were reset as a result of previous priority reform measures, have been emphasised, which may call into question the legitimacy of the new staff of the prosecutor's office and does not allow the assertion of the final completion of these processes.
THE ATRIBUTTIONS OF PUBLIC PROSECUTOR’S IN FAMILY ACTIONS Hermes Zaneti Junior; Michelle Ivair Cavalcanti de Oliveira; Francisco Martínez Berdeal
Revista eletrônica de direito processual,
12/2020, Volume:
21, Issue:
3
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The current Brazilian civil procedure law, enlightened by the new paradigms of the 1988 Federal Constitution and civil recodification, distanced itself from the idea of inflexibility and rigidity, ...making possible the modulation of procedures and the usage of techniques to ensure effectiveness and protection of rights. The present article intends to analyze the performance of Public Prosecutor’s in special procedure of the family litigation envisaged by the CPC/15, a document that prioritizes consensus between the parties in family actions.
Resumo Este artigo apresenta resultados de tese de doutorado que analisou as ações da Promotoria da Infância e Juventude, e dos Conselhos Tutelares para a garantia do acesso à educação infantil no ...município de Juiz de Fora (MG), que tramitaram entre 2009 e 2014. A pesquisa foi realizada por meio de revisão bibliográfica, análise documental e entrevistas semiestruturadas. Como resultados, aponta-se a dificuldade do município em garantir o acesso à educação infantil, sobretudo a subetapa de creches, e o cumprimento de metas estipuladas em política nacional de educação; a inoperância da rede de proteção social da criança e do adolescente; e o movimento de (des)judicialização da educação, haja vista a entrada em cena de um outro ator para a exigibilidade do direito da criança: o Poder Legislativo.
Abstract This article presents the results from a doctoral dissertation that analyzed the actions taken by the Office for the Protection of Children and Youth and the Child Protective Services, from 2009 to 2013, in order to guarantee access to Early childhood education in the city of Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais. The research was conducted by means of bibliographical review, documental analyses and semi-structured interview. As examples of brief results, it is pointed out the city's difficulty in securing access to Early childhood education, especially to nursery schools, and fulfilling the goals established in national education guidelines; the ineffectiveness of the children and youth's social protection network; and the movement of (de)Judicialization of education, considering the participation of another actor for demanding children’s right: the legislative power.
The European Public Prosecutor's Office was established under enhanced cooperation in 2017, as a new body in the institutional system of the European Union. The establishment of the European Public ...Prosecutor's Office changes the EU criminal law in a significant way, as it is the first body of the European Union, which will undertake its own investigations of criminal offences affecting the financial interests of the EU, carry out acts of prosecution and exercise the functions of prosecutor in the competent courts of the Member States.
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