Subjects:

Criminal Law

Contents:

1. Introduction: How the idea of a European Criminal Record came to be

Constantin Stefanou and Helen Xanthaki

2. The European Criminal Record: analysis

Helen Xanthaki

3. The European Criminal Record: the political parameters

Constantin Stefanou

4. The European Criminal Record: human rights considerations

Alexandra Xanthaki

5. The European Criminal Record in Austria

Robert Kert

6. The European Criminal Record in the Czech Republic

Jaroslav Fenyk

7. The European Criminal Record in Germany

Lorenz Bö

llinger

8. The European Criminal Record in Greece

Maria Gavouneli and Pantelis Traianos

9. The European Criminal Record in Hungary

Katalin Ligeti

10. The European Criminal Record in Ireland

Ivana Bacik

11. The European Criminal Record in the Netherlands

Oswald Jansen

12. The European Criminal Record in Slovenia

Katja Š

ugman and Dragan Petrovec

13. The European Criminal Record in Slovakia

Anna Ondrejova

14. The European Criminal Record in Spain Francisco

Javier Garcí

a Ferná

ndez

15. The European Criminal Record in England and Wales

Lisa Webley

16. Databases in the area of freedom, security and justice: lessons for the centralisation of records and their maximum exchange

Valsamis Mitsilegas

17. A European Criminal Records Database: an integrated model

Els de Busser

18. The European Criminal Record: feasible or folly?

Helen Xanthaki

19. Conclusions

Constantin Stefanou and Helen Xanthaki

The success of the four core freedoms of the EU has created fertile ground for transnational organised crime. Innovative, transnational legal weapons are therefore required by national authorities. The availability of data on criminal convictions is at the forefront of the debate. But which mechanism for availability can be used effectively while at the same time respecting an increasingly higher level of data protection at national level?

In the fluid, post-‘Reform Treaty’ environment, the EU is moving towards the creation of a European Criminal Record which will ultimately secure availability of criminal data beyond the weaknesses of Mutual Legal Assistance mechanisms. Examining the concept of a European Criminal Record in its legal, political and data protection dimensions, this multidisciplinary study is an indispensable exploration of a major initiative in European Criminal Law which is set to monopolise the debate on EU judicial co-operation and enforcement.