Munich Expert Workshop in July 2013

In July, the ECPI hosted its second expert workshop on European criminal policy on the premises of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich. The ECPI had prepared a draft version of its future Manifesto on European Criminal Procedure and presented what has been accomplished so far at the workshop. This time, the ECPI invited renowned experts who had not been involved in the previous work of the group to comment on this draft with a particular emphasis on specific topics. Prof. Dr. Słavomir Steinborn (Gdansk, PL) analysed whether or not the EU could serve as an international role model as regards suspects‘ and defence rights and whether or not it should aim for setting innovative maximum rather than international minimum standards. Prof. Dr. Stefano Manacorda (Naples, IT) addressed the influence of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union on criminal law and whether or not it provided for new standards for basic guarantees through ECJ jurisprudence. To conclude the Friday session, Prof. Dr. Lorena Bachmaier Winter (Madrid, ES) looked at the formalisation and legality of cross-border criminal proceedings and the role the European legislator should play. Judge Valéry Turcey (FR), who currently serves as the Franco-German liaison judge at the German Federal Ministry of Justice, explained how judicial cooperation worked in practice and how the various European players interact. Prof. Carol Steiker (Cambridge, MA, USA) explained criminal prosecution at the Federal level in the United States and shared what lessons Europe could learn from the U.S. model for centralising criminal prosecution at a new European Federal level. Dr. Marianne Wade (Birmingham, UK) addressed the question as to how much Europe a European criminal procedure really needs and thereby analysed the role that the principles of proportionality and subsidiarity can or shall play in the realm of judicial cooperation. Prof. Dr. Thomas Weigend (Cologne, DE) gave a complete and critical analysis of the draft Manifesto and the added-value it may introduce to a European criminal policy which is still caught in between a common European area of justice and traditional judicial cooperation. The ECPI thanked all participants for many fruitful and interesting discussions and their constructive and helpful review of the Manifesto.