*** ANGELIKA ZIMMERMANN: Menschenrechtliche Aspekte von Staatsbürgerinnenschaft am Beispiel der « Ausgelöschten » in der Republik Slowenien. Peter Lang (1 Moosstrasse, Postfach 350, CH-2542 Pieterlen. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - fax: 3761727 - Email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). “Politik und Demokratie” No. 21. 2011, 124 p., €13.80. ISBN 978-3-631-60274-4.
The dissolution of the former Yugoslavia at the beginning of the 1990s led to the birth of new states that were pushed forward in each case by strong nationalist currents. Whilst these countries were attempting to build themselves into viable states, human rights aspects linked to laws on the acquisition of citizenship and related administrative rules were at the heart of the different phases of regional, political and social reorganisation. One of these countries, Slovenia, has an extremely restrictive view regarding the acquisition of nationality. In this respect, certain permanent residents even had their names removed from the Slovenian national register: more than 18,000 residents lost their nationality during this period, sometimes for not having made the necessary procedural approach in the six-month period set out in the regulation. These people, therefore once removed from the national register, effectively became stateless. Some of these “removed persons”, the “Izbrisani” still continue to live in this way. They were unable to go to the Slovenian courts to rectify their situation and therefore, some of them drew on the international agreements signed by Slovenia, including the European Convention of human rights, in an effort to rectify matters.
In this book, political scientist and legal expert, Angelika Zimmermann, tackles this very current subject in Slovenia. Its repercussions may be felt in all the different member states because it has been necessary to point out over recent years that some of the effects of this situation may suggest that the case of the “Izbrisani” may actually “inspire” certain political figures. France, for example, has threatened to withdraw nationality from certain French citizens of foreign origin. The issue of the people removed from the register has assumed political importance at a European level and on that basis it is a very useful case study to examine. This is an obviously multidisciplinary subject and cannot be tackled simply from a legal or political perspective. The legal aspects are of paramount importance in approaching this subject appropriately. The theme of statelessness is connected to the issue of acquiring nationality, which inevitably leads the author to develop a theoretical analysis in the field of political philosophy and the “term” resident also produces a number of sociological considerations.
The first part of the book focuses on political theory. The theoretical aspects regarding access to nationality in modern societies are also analysed. The construction of a state and its elaboration through a liberal constitution are also examined. Angelika Zimmermann scrutinises the different forms of state at an international level, from some of the most unstable to the model that currently prevails at a European level. This part of the book also provides the author with an opportunity to look at some of the political and sociological theories linked to racism and an inventory of the current situation in Europe also forms part of this study. The specificities involved in the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the construction of the Slovenian state are examined. In this perspective, the author analyses the way in which the concept of a nation was understood and applied in Slovenia. Nationality, its founding elements and the law connected to it are then explained and the author also looks at the significance, both historical and current, of the removal and construction of borders. Angelika Zimmermann takes a number of legal factors into consideration and looks at the underpinning logic to the debate surrounding the acquisition of Slovenian nationality at the time the country was gaining its independence. Subsequently, she also examines the loss of legal security resulting from a status of statelessness, before going on to examine the sociological aspects defining the term of permanent resident, within a context relating to the current legal situation in Slovenia. She looks at the subjectivity of the law and social aspects linked to the study of permanent residency and concludes her book with an insight into the different legal stages that the “Izbrisani” have had to go through at a European level to resolve their problem.
Julien Demoustier
*** ELISABETH LAMBERT ABDELGAWAD (Editors): Preventing and sanctioning hindrances to the right of individual petition before the European Court of Human Rights. Intersentia Publishers (31 Groenstraat, B-2640 Mortsel. Tel: (32-3) 6801550 - fax: 6587121 - Email: mail@intersentia.be - Internet: http://www.intersentia.com ). 2011, 215 pp. €50, £48, $70. ISBN 978-1-78068-013-2.
According to Article 34 in the European Convention of Human Rights, the 47 member states of the Council of Europe are committed to preventing any kind of impediment to the right of individuals acting alone or in groups to introduce an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. Nonetheless, let's not count a chicken before they hatch. Without even touching on the assassinations of plaintiffs if they happen to be unfortunate enough to have been born in Chechnya, where they may have upset the president, for example or in the other western democracies have developed hidden, oblique or indeed even more pernicious impediments to going to court. In countries such as Moldavia, Turkey, Russia and Georgia but even in Cyprus, Bulgaria and Romania, which are members of the European Union, human rights activists regularly have to confront obstacles and other restrictions that can prevent them from ultimately having access to the court in Strasbourg.
This book focuses on this crucial issue and no country is spared, even the apparent paragons of democracy and states where the rule of law is supposed to rule supreme. The book is an extension of a seminar in Strasbourg a year and a half ago, which brought together researchers (sociologists, legal experts and political scientists) with human rights activists (lawyers and NGOs) and members of the European Court of human rights, such as judges and registrars. The final product is both an exemplary scientific and practical contribution to understanding this question. The first part of the book provides an insight into the jurisprudence of the Court in this field and the lawyer, Ramona Toma, seeks to illustrate whether penalties for hindrances committed in this arena have proved effective. The second part of the book examines typical impediments to the most vulnerable categories seeking justice who are confronted with these obstacles on the road to justice in Strasbourg. Unsurprisingly, this is mainly prisoners, migrants and foreigners. The book's editor also reveals that this trajectory is no easier for immigrants and those refused asylum if they are in Belgium or even in… France and demonstrates this with a number of specific contributions to support her argument in this connection. Finally, the third part of the book provides some very real concrete experiences involving these impediments (for example, misleading information with regard to what procedure should be followed, bureaucratic, fiscal and financial obstacles, the protection and security of applicants and those protecting them…) together with the recommendations for overcoming these obstacles in the future. As Professor Philip Leach (London Metropolitan University) explains in his foreword, the goal is in effect to get things moving, “The response of the Council of Europe to this volume should be no less than to bring together Government representatives from all 47 Member States - assisted by the contributors to this volume and their ilk - to decide upon a series of collective measures, at both the national and international levels, to address the continuing, grave problem of hindrances to human rights petitioners”. Let's hope this approach will be adopted, if not by Chechnya, then at least by the countries in the Union…
(MT)
*** PATRICIA POPELIER, CATHERINE VAN DE HEYNING, PIET VAN NUFFEL (Editors): Human rights protection in the European legal order: The interaction between the European and the national courts. Intersentia Publishers (see address attached). “Law and Cosmopolitan Values” series 2011, 382 pp, €89, £85, $125. ISBN 978-1-78068-010-1.
Human rights protection in the legal order is a complex mosaic in Europe. At a European level, there is of course the European Court of Human Rights, which seeks to ensure respect for the provisions in the Convention of the same name. There is also the European Court of Justice and the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Many European countries have also included guarantees on the respect of fundamental rights in their constitutions. Therefore, the editors of this book point out in their introduction that, “Where courts are faced with a human rights claim, they not only have to examine the validity of that claim, but also need to have a clear understanding of the human rights catalogue that is to be applied, that is to say human rights as guaranteed by the national constitution, human rights as protected under EU Law, based or not on the Charter, and/or human rights as identified in the Convention”. During a seminar in Antwerp in March 2009, academic specialists and legal practitioners working in the courts and tribunals sought to clarify the situation. This book provides an account of this international academic cooperation. In the first part of the book, the authors examine the different aspects of the interaction between the different jurisdictions and instruments of the Council of Europe and the Union. In the second part of the book, the other contributions focus on the impact of this dual European mechanism and the way in which human rights are protected in the different member states of the Union.
(PBo)
*** ANDRE KLIP: European Criminal Law. An Integrative Approach. Intersentia Publishers (see address attached). “Ius Communitatis” series, No. 2. 2012, 580 pp. €125. ISBN 978-1-78068-001-9.
Before the Maastricht Treaty of 1992, European criminal law was the exclusive preserve of the member states. Since the adoption of this treaty, the different legal competences in the criminal legal area have been transferred to a European Union level. There is, subsequently, a, “patchwork of legislation and jurisprudence” in which the different national and European actors have to work. A “hybrid system” subsequently results and in which practitioners in this area might sometimes find themselves a little lost. It is in this connection that André Klip has come to their assistance and has written this book in which he presents a coherent and exhaustive account of the impact of Union law on the law and criminal legal procedures in the member states. In this publication he sketches the outlines of the European criminal legal system emerging within the European Union. In comparison to the first edition published in 2008, the most recent version takes into account the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and the different developments that have happened since then but the initial structure of the book is in no way significantly modified. In the first part of the book, the author (he teaches criminal law and transnational criminal law at the University of Maastricht, whilst working as a judge in this field) provides a critically useful account of European institutional law for all those involved in this area. He therefore provides a very detailed demonstration of how criminal law overtime at a European Union level has, for the most part, been implemented and applied under the jurisdiction of the member states. In the third part of this remarkable book the author focuses on the interaction and cooperation between these states and how the different challenges in the European criminal legal arena can be tackled. A number of recommendations are made to achieve this end. An index and table of the different cases and appropriate legislation are contained in this publication, together with a selective bibliography, which make this book an extremely useful reference tool.
(MT)
*** IAIN CAMERON, MALIN THUNBERG SCHUNKE, KARIN PALE-BARTES, CHRISTOFFER WONG, PETTER ASP: International Criminal Law from a Swedish Perspective. Intersentia Publishers (see address attached). “Supranational Criminal Law: Capita Selecta” series, No. 9. 2011, 277 pp., €85, £81, $119. ISBN 978-90-5095-981-0.
This book was written by a number of academics and provides a comprehensive analysis of Swedish rules regarding international criminal law. Obviously, it pays particular attention to the increasing number of instruments the European Union now has at its disposal. The authors consider that exploring the Swedish rules as well is the way in which they are applied could prove useful for practitioners of common law and, more broadly, for all those having to deal with the sharp increase in the number of infringements of a transnational nature. They also demonstrate that the cooperation developed in the criminal legal area by Scandinavian countries has been and will remain a source of useful inspiration for Union legislators. The situation in Sweden, together with its good practices are examined in the context of extradition procedures, the European arrest warrant and mutual legal assistance in the criminal legal arena etc.
(PBo)
*** JANNEMIEKE OUWERKERK: Quid Pro Quo? A comparative law perspective on the mutual recognition of judicial decisions in criminal matters. Intersentia Publishers (see address attached). 2011, 318 pp. €65, £62, $91. ISBN 978-94-000-0176-3.
This book is the result of an impeccable research undertaking carried out as part of a doctoral thesis at the criminal legal department of the Law School at the University of Tilburg. It provides a methodical exploration of all the different aspects contained within the principle of mutual recognition. Since the European Council of Tampere of 1999, this principle constitutes the very foundations of co-operation between the EU27 in the criminal legal arena. In the first part of the book, the author locates this principle, “between Community and Union law”. It also examines the way in which this principle has been implemented within the Union and identifies the subsequent obstacles and bottlenecks that this implementation has had to confront. Finally, the author reveals the way in which this principle has been applied in other federal states, namely Switzerland and the US, which enables us to draw a number of lessons for the Union itself.
(MT)
*** YANN FAVIER, FREDERIQUE FERRAND (Editors): La justice des mineurs en Europe. Une question de spécialité ? Stämpfli Editions (Berne. Internet: http://www.staempfliverlag.com ) and Intersentia Publishers (see address attached). “Droit Européen de la Famille” series, No. 9. 2011, 171 pp. €58, £55. ISBN 978-3-7272-2167-5 (Stämpfli) and 978-94-000-0106-0 (Intersentia).
Does a legal system in its own right, with its own law and specific procedures exist yet in Europe with regard to minors? This is the question to which this book attempts to provide a detailed answer. It is the extension of a university colloquy organised in Lyon, which brought together legal specialists from the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain and France.
(MT)