Has the European Union begun to drive criminal law down a slippery road?- – a review of the union’s efforts to combat road safety related traffic offences and its implications for future criminal law policies
- Autores: Georg C. Langheld
- Localización: EuCLR European Criminal Law Review, ISSN-e 2193-5505, ISSN 2191-7442, Vol. 2, Nº. 3, 2012, págs. 276-290
- Idioma: inglés
- Enlaces
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Resumen
European lawmakers have recently enacted a directive to improve the safety on European roads by facilitating the cross-border identification of vehicle holders for certain traffic offences like speeding, failure to wear a seat-belt, illegally using a mobile phone while driving etc.
When determining the legal basis, dispute arose among lawmakers during the legislative debates in the Council as to whether these offences should be classified as “administrative” or “criminal” offences. Lawmakers overruled the opposition by the Commission and opted for the latter. They thereby ignored the peculiar nature of criminal law and the fact that many Member States consider these traffic offences to be of an administrative nature. This paper aims to show why the decision made by the Council and the Parliament is wrong from a legal point of view and why it may set a dangerous precedent for future legislative acts in the field of criminal law.
It concludes by demonstrating that the procedure for information exchange under this directive may give rise to problems with general concepts of criminal law, namely the principle of guilt, the rights of suspects and witnesses and the principle of proportionality.
