Globalized crime and criminal justice: European and international criminal law perspectives

In a globalized world, criminal law and criminal justice are no longer the exclusive prerogative and task of sovereign states. Crime and other threats to security increasingly have an international dimension and accordingly affect states collectively, be it on a regional or global level. In order to tackle international, cross-border crime and the most serious forms of wrongdoing that concern the international community as a whole, new legal orders have emerged that significantly shape and influence criminal justice. In the European context, the European Union has ever since the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty gained more and more influence with regard to criminal law. The Treaty of Lisbon increased the Union’s competences and also introduced far reaching institutional and constitutional changes, contributing to the further development of a European criminal justice system. With regard to international wrongdoing which affects significant international interests and which runs counter to commonly shared values of civilized nations, the establishment of several ad hoc tribunals as well as the creation of a permanent International Criminal Court (ICC) has given rise to an international criminal law regime.