Similarities and Shortcomings of the National Understanding of Participatory Rights in the Field of Transnational Criminal Justice

Abstract

A rather different scenario emerges from the comparative-law analysis of the selected countries in the field of transnational criminal justice. As far as international cooperation in criminal matters is concerned, Brazil and Italy at first glance provide different legal frameworks. Whereas the Italian 1988 code enacted a set of domestic rules inspired by the main principles governing domestic criminal proceedings, the Brazilian code of criminal procedure has only a few rules that are concerned with tools of international legal assistance, and in this area Brazilian law is still overwhelmingly governed by instruments of international law. In Brazil, the main instrument of international cooperation is extradition, which is mainly regulated by the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens (Estatuto do Estrangeiro). In Italy, the rules concerned with domestic proceedings with transnational features are few and rather uncoordinated with each other, whereas the Italian code also provides a subsidiary regulation on international cooperation in criminal matters in instruments of international law. Most significantly, notwithstanding the recent ratification of the Brussels Convention, Italian law has still largely not updated to the new forms of international cooperation in the EU area.