Issue on the Effectiveness of EU Criminal Law
| Date | 01 September 2014 |
| Author | Annika Suominen,Sakari Melander |
| Published date | 01 September 2014 |
| DOI | 10.1177/203228441400500301 |
| Subject Matter | Editorial |
New Journal of Eu ropean Crimina l Law, Vol. 5, Issue 3, 2014 265
EDITORIAL
ISSUE ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF EU
CRIMINAL LAW
S M and A S
e articles in this special issue focusing on e ectiveness of EU criminal law are a
result of a one-day seminar, which was organ ised at the Faculty of Law at the University
of Helsinki on the topic ‘E ectiveness in European Criminal Law’ in October 2012.
is sem inar was organised and funded t hrough the Research Project ‘Criminal L aw
under Pressure – Between Di erentiation and Harmonization’, funded by the
University of Helsinki and the Centre of Excellence Foundations of European Law
and Polity, University of Helsinki, funde d by the Academy of Finland.
e seminar was very i nteresting and it o ered a var iety of di erent topics rangi ng
fr om EU law mor e gen era ll y, co nst it uti ona l as pec ts of E U cr im ina l la w, ha rm oni sat ion
of EU criminal law, the general pa rt and mutual recognition. Al l of these aspects were
discussed through e ectiveness. e discussions held were very fruitful, insightful
and engaging for al l participants. A selection of the contribut ions is now published in
this special issue.
Although the topic for the whole semi nar was e ec tive ness of EU cr imin al law, the
contributions made it clear that there is not one form of e ectiveness or one simple
way to understand it. One can distinguish between e ectiveness and cooperation in
criminal mat ters, mainly under the principle of mutual recog nition (see contributions
of Dan Helenius and Luisa Marin). E ective cooperation is one of the main aims of
the EU legislator. As far as how e ectiveness is applied in general EU law (see
contributions of Ester Herlin-Karnell and Merita Huomo-Kettunen), the question
also stands; which EU actions in criminal law can be motivated by this (see
contributions of Sakar i Melander, Annika Suominen and Jacob Öberg).
Although it is perhaps not desirable to have one sing le de nition of e ectiveness in
EU criminal law, certain general remarks can be made initially. One can consider a
criminal law provision e ective if it is used by recipients. E ectiveness can also refer
to the degree to which objectives have been ful lled, which can be considered having
a common approach on crime combatting and creating a common area of justice.
E ectiveness can also refer to t he adequacy between the e ec ts and purpose s pursued
by the legislature, which demonstrates itself in how well the criminal laws have the
e ect sought a er and ful l its pu rposes (to combat crime).
In addition, one may also question the strong emphasis on e ectiveness with
regard to the use of criminal law. Classical theories of punishment, for instance,
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