This book offers insight into the development of the EU in the areas of justice, home affairs and security, embedded in a broader international context. In addition to the main part, dedicated to the EU, the book features chapters on cooperation in the areas concerned at Benelux, Schengen, Council of Europe, NATO, OSCE, G7/G20, OECD and UN levels.The chapter structure is identical for all cooperation levels addressed, discussing their actual policies after sketching their historical developme...

Catastrophes used to be regarded as Acts of God, but nowadays tend to be blamed as Acts of Man. Although human error is a cause in the majority of accidents, it is seldomly the sole cause. Major accidents are usually the result of several errors made at different moments by different people that coincide in an extraordinary way.

Errors are common and inevitable. Humans make them regularly. But, when made in interaction with devices that can "crash, sink, burn, or explode," errors can have cat...

In an effort to prevent a terrorist attack, legislators increasingly resort to criminal law measures at an early stage of the iter criminis. Although this pre-emptive turn is often criticized, a thorough assessment based upon the fundaments of the criminal justice system is largely absent in scholarly discourse. This book, therefore, subjects three types of terrorism-related offences (i.e. offences with an impact on expression, information and movement) in four Western-European countries (i.e...

On October 1st 1934 Willem P.J. Pompe (1893-1968), Professor of Criminal Law at Utrecht University between 1928 and 1963, founded the 'Criminological Institute' (Criminologisch Instituut) within the Faculty of Law of Utrecht University. Pompe initiated a rather influential academic movement, based on multidisciplinary cooperation between jurists, criminologists and psychiatrists. This academic movement is commonly referred to as 'the Utrecht School', which had its heyday in the 1950s.

In 197...

Leo Cornelissen, born and raised in Brabant, Netherlands, is a man whose life is a story of struggle and redemption. Now 62 years old, Leo has a tumultuous past that he does not hide. From a young age, he had run-ins with the law and spent mul-tiple stints behind bars. His life as a criminal, although it has personally shaped him, has undoubtedly had a significant im-pact on his loved ones.

Despite the challenges, Leo is a devoted husband and father. However, he painfully realizes that his cr...

What practical problems are at stake in current EAW surrender proceedings? The research project Improving Mutual Recognition of European Arrest Warrants through Common Practical Guidelines of which the three country reports for Greece, the Netherlands and Poland are now published, is a follow-up of an earlier project that led to the publication of The European Arrest Warrant and In Absentia Judgments, Maastricht Law Series No.12 In AbsentiEAW. This project is broader than in absentia alone an...

The ImprovEAW-project concerns European Arrest Warrant proceedings in seven Member States (Belgium, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland and Romania). Maastricht Law Series No. 23 contains the country reports for Greece, the Netherlands and Poland. ImprovEAW is a follow up to an earlier project that focused on In Absentia Judgments (Maastricht Law Series No. 12). This book looks at various other aspects of the EAW surrender procedure that are problematic in practice, such as the ...

Terrorism trials are an exceptional opportunity for better understanding and, hence, countering terrorism, since they are often the only place where most if not all of the actors of a terrorist incident meet again, and where the media report and broadcast their respective accounts. A nexus between terrorist violence, law enforcement and public opinion, terrorism trials showcase justice in progress and thus demonstrate to the world how terrorism suspects are treated under national law.

This vo...

Belgium has one of the highest numbers of Jihadist fighters per capita in Europe. A large group of often young men and women left Belgium for the IS Caliphate in Syria and Iraq. This book focuses on the law governing this situation, with its aim being twofold. First, it provides a comprehensive and detailed overview of the legal framework. Second, it provides suggestions on how to improve the framework, both with a view to effectiveness and with respect for fundamental rights and principles.

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Age of consent refers to the age below which it is prohibited to engage in sexual activities with a child. The legislators always need to keep a balance between protecting children from sexual abuse and respecting their sexual autonomy while setting the age boundary. In addition, as a legal concept, age of consent is closely related with the construction of childhood and once set, it affects the age at which children engage in sex.

The age of consent legislation in Europe have been revised tr...