Book Review: Criminal Law and Policy in the European Union
| Date | 01 September 2013 |
| Published date | 01 September 2013 |
| DOI | 10.1177/203228441300400314 |
| Author | Auke Willems |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
362 Interse ntia
BOOK REVIEW
Samuli Miettinen, Criminal Law and Policy i n the European Union, Routledge,
London and New York, 2012, 248 pp., £85, ISBN 978–041–5474–269
Samuli Miett inen is a PhD researcher at the University of Helsin ki. e book was
written as a prelim inary to his doctoral thesis, a nd is also the product of research he
conducted as a university teacher in EU law. e book sets out to examine the topic
that has established itself as EU criminal law and to consider whether it provides
evidence of an EU crimi nal policy. Interesting quest ions that this volume aims to
address include the following: is EU criminal law like national law, what are the
fundamental principles and doctrines u nderpinning EU criminal law, and, what
challenges have to be overcome in order for EU crimina l law to become eective? e
book analyses t he developments that have taken place at the level of the EU in the eld
of cooperation in criminal matters and, even t hough the term EU crim inal law is
oen used in the book, no such thing (yet) exists, according to t he author. ere is
much debate as to whether EU crimi nal law should strive to become equal to national
crimina l law and the position Miettinen takes is t hat whilst this might be desirable it
is clearly not feasible in the short term.
Next to analysing t he developments at the level of the EU, the book also pays
special attention to the role of national lega l systems in the t ransposition and
application of EU crimina l law. As is made clear in the bo ok, national legislators play
an essential role in ser iously implementing EU crimina l law in order for it to be
eective. Furt hermore, the book looks at the general body of EU law that facilitates
this transposition. In doing so it takes a topical approach and aims at dealing with a
large variety of issues, such as its sources, doctrines and the ach ievements so far,
relevant to the study of EU crim inal law.
In his introduction, Miet tinen lists the other books on EU cri minal law that allow
for comparison. is growing body of academic literature itself indicates that the
reception of EU crimina l law as a fully grown EU policy area is slowly but certa inly
taking place. M iettinen modest ly positions his book in the la ndscape of existi ng
literature by saying that ‘it is hoped that the speed of change and the wealth of
information which is produced permits this book to also oer some additions to the
discussion.’ It is indeed dicu lt for any book on this rapidly evolving topic to stay up
to date, and this book st ates the law up until 1June 2012. At the same time its advantage
for the time being is that it is t he most recent work on the topic.
e book is well organised, a er a general introduction chapter 2 begins with an
overview of the histor y of EU criminal law. e author traces the origins of EU
cooperation in crimi nal matters back to the 1950European Coal a nd Steel Community.
However, express competences to act in the area of criminal law are recogni zed to
have been created by the Maastricht Treaty in 1993. Since then developments have
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