*** KATALIN LIGETI (Ed.): Toward a Prosecutor for the European Union. Volume 1: a Comparative Analysis. Hart Publishing (16C Worcester Place, Oxford, OX1 2JW, UK. Tel: (44-1865) 517530 - Fax: 510710 - email: mail@hartpub.co.uk - Internet: http://www.hartpub.co.uk ). Modern Studies in European Law series, No. 34. 2013, 1046 pp, £105. ISBN 978-1-84946-314-0.
This impressive book, which is to be followed by a second volume that will no doubt be just as impressive, is the initial outcome of a large-scale research project financed by the European Commission's Hercules II Programme and piloted from February 2010 to March 2012 by Luxembourg University. The project brought together four dozen representatives of academia and legal practitioners 'to elaborate a set of rules with a model character delineating the investigative and prosecutorial powers of a European Public Prosecutor's Office.' A task that is as enormous as it is complex and thus fully justifies European surveyors indicating signposts along the way.
The decision to provide the European Union under Article 86 of the Lisbon Treaty with a legal basis to enable it to set up a European Prosecutor's Office to defend the EU's financial interests was far from straightforward. In their desire to protect their sovereignty in this sensitive domain, member states have long preferred mutual recognition. Although the treaty article was a clear change in the paradigm of European judicial cooperation, 'it did not solve the particular problem of EU fraud and other offences committed to the detriment of the EU budget.' As Katalin Ligeti explains in the introduction, an investigation of such matters is usually confined to the national field without taking proper account of the European dimension. In a report published in 2010, the Commission said that: 'suspected fraud amounts to approximately 600 million euros annually on the revenue and expenditure side,' and Ligeti, professor of European and International Law at Luxembourg University, is therefore quite right when she says this is 'just the tip of the iceberg.' The amounts at stake are large enough to get Member States to finally decide to do something and it is no doubt the current financial crisis that is causing countries to put their promises into action. The editor points out that a European Prosecutor's Office 'may help consolidating the economic and monetary union by strengthening taxpayers' confidence in the functioning of the EU institutions.' This would be quite something against the current backdrop…
Nothing is yet set in stone. Article 86 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union is extremely vague, so Member States will have to decide on some rather tricky legal and complicated issues when drawing up the application regulations. Firstly there is the range of powers to be given to the European Prosecutor's office. Katalin Ligeti asks the pertinent and impertinent question: 'Is it sound to limit the competence of the EPPO to the protection of the financial interests of the EU, a phenomenon which only indirectly touches on the lives of EU citizens compared to general cross-border criminality?' Other questions cover more procedural aspects of the European Prosecutor's Office, the most important of which being whether it should operate using harmonised criminal law rules at EU level. Institutional questions are no less controversial. Should the European Prosecutor's Office based on Eurojust be a collegiate office of prosecutors appointed by each Member State? Or a 'supranational body consisting of a central office assisted by deputy prosecutors in each Member State?' Or a 'central office assisted by deputy prosecutors in each Member State? Or should it be a completely supranational body, organised hierarchically and given power to act throughout the entire European Union?
So many issues to be sorted out, whence the interest of this research project and, therefore, this book reporting on the initial outcomes. They comprise in the first section of the book 'a description of the pre-trial phase of the criminal procedure in 20 jurisdictions representing 19 EU Member States.' The second section comprises legal essays on the key questions connected with the future European Prosecutor's Office, from cooperation in investigations to subsidies for judicial controls in penal issues via decentralised application of EU competition law. A fine reference tome!
Pierre Bouvier
*** Martine Boersma: Corruption: A Violation of Human Rights and a Crime Under International Law? Intersentia Publishing (31 Groenstraat, B-2640 Mortsel. Tel: (32-3) 6801550 - Fax: 6587121 - email: mail@intersentia.be - Internet: http://www.intersentia.be ). School of Human Rights Research series, No. 56. 2012, 491 pp, €95, £90, $133. ISBN 978-1-78068-105-4.
In this book, a researcher from the Human Rights Centre at Maastricht University, Martine Boersma, looks at corruption from the viewpoint of human rights and international criminal law. In the first part of the book, she describes corruption and deals with the international and legal framework surrounding it, looking next at countries' responsibility in this domain and a possible connection with violation of human rights. Martine Boersma discusses the work of the United Nations' Human Rights Council in tackling this scourge and then explains the connection that can exist between corruption and human rights. She discusses individual responsibility, comparing violations of international law and corruption, setting the latter against the backdrop of international criminal law, and dares to draw up a connection between the notions of corruption and crimes against humanity under current international law.
(SH)
*** Julio Bacio Terracino: The International Legal Framework against Corruption. States' obligations to prevent and repress corruption. Intersentia Publishing (see above). 2012, 394 pp, €95, £90, $133. ISBN 978-1-78068-092-7.
Political analyst at the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development, Julio Bacio Terracino describes in this book the international legal framework for tackling corruption in great detail in nine chapters. The author starts by describing and defining the concept of corruption, before highlighting the international nature of the fight against this scourge, continuing by describing the regulations in force internationally, reviewing anti-corruption treaties and resolutions passed by international organisations. He goes on to examine the scope of the international legal framework for tackling corruption, before reviewing potential preventative measures. The author looks at application of anti-corruption laws and then deals with international cooperation at penal level and also the recovery of assets. He ends by describing implementation and application of international anti-corruption obligations.
(SH)
*** Till Bellinghausen: Civitas Europaea. Unterschiede und Gemeinsamkeiten des Status von Unionsbürgern und Drittstaatsangehörigen in der Europäischen Union. Das Desiderat unionsrechtlicher Bürgerrechte für Drittstaatsangehörige. Peter Lang (1 Moosstrasse, Postfach 350, CH-2542 Pieterlen. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). 2012, 322 pp, €59-95. ISBN 978-3-631-63291-8.
This book compares and contrasts the status of citizens of the European Union with the status of citizens of countries outside the EU. In the first section, Till Bellinghausen explains the migration of populations and defines the terms 'migration' and 'Europe.' He continues by setting the historic backdrop to migration in Europe since 1945, highlighting the need to regulate the phenomenon globally. In the second section, the author examines development of European policy in the domain of migration and related EU law, reviewing regulations from the time of the European Economic Community until the creation of the European Union. Among other things, he raises the question of the Schengen Agreements, going on to explain the changes to regulations under the Maastricht, Amsterdam and Lisbon Treaties. The third part of the book sees him describe firstly the legal status of European citizens and citizens of non-EU countries, going on to compare and contract them. In the final section of the book, the author shares his ideas on how to brings together and harmonise the different legal statuses, which he terms Civitas Europaea.
(SH)