Criminology in Europe

The nitty-gritty of the criminal procedure is not necessarily a topic that gets criminologists excited. This is especially true for ones with an international element. We tend to view the criminal process as insular, and within our respective national legal and institutional framework. We probably still teach the old adage that to criminalise and to prosecute is one of the remaining bastions of state sovereignty in the post-Westphalian age.

Since the Treaty of Lisbon removed the British veto in European police and judicial cooperation, UK involvement in this policy field has amounted to a block opt-out of all pre-Lisbon measures, a host of simultaneous opt-back-ins, several subsequent opt-ins to post-Lisbon measures and partial involvement in the Schengen acquis. This à la carte approach paints an indistinct portrait: a tree with many branches, carefully pruned in the national interest – and now shaken to the roots by the complexities of implementing the vote to leave the EU.

It is our great pleasure to announce the start of the ESC Working Group on Qualitative Research Methodologies and Epistemologies (WG-QRME)!

The ESC Working Group on Community Sanctions and Measures was formed in 2007 by a small group of scholars to encourage networking, foster discussion, stimulate empirical research, enable theoretical development and encourage critical and comparative work on community sanctions and measures in European jurisdictions.