Brexit and European Criminal Law

Abstract

The Brexit vote of 23 June 2016 entails a lot of uncertainty with regard to the future relationship of the UK with the EU, not least in the field of criminal justice cooperation. With the adoption of the (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill and Prime Minister May’s actual triggering of Art. 50 Treaty of the European Union (‘TEU’) on 29 March 2017 formal withdrawal negotiations could start and have in the meantime actually started. This little essay will first describe the area concerned, i.e., European Criminal Law in the narrow sense (1), then we will look at the current relationship of the UK with the EU in the criminal justice area (2), and, last but not least, sketch out possible options of the UK’s post-Brexit relationship with the EU in the criminal justice area (3). The piece is dedicated to Wolfgang Schomburg who did not only have a formative influence of the case law of the ICTY where he served as the first German judge from November 2001 to November 2008 but also edited the perhaps most important German commentary on mutual assistance in criminal matters. In this commentary, European Criminal Law plays a prominent role. In addition, Schomburg was appointed honorary professor in Durham Law School, UK, in March 2009. For both reasons I am confident that this paper will find his interest.