Harmonization of Criminal Law in the EU : A Special Focus on the US Judicial System

Estudio 15-03-2010

The Lisbon Treaty does not revolutionize the possibilities given to harmonize criminal law. The actual process of harmonization could however accelerate the adoption of new instruments in the field of criminal law. The question of common criminal rules and a common judicial process exists in both in the European Union and in the United States. Although the federal system and the States’ system do not officially interact, certain processes have been built up to divide jurisdiction between State and federal power or to make them co-exist. Chapter I will provide the reader with an overview of the pre-Lisbon period and also the new provisions of the Lisbon Treaty. Chapter II will then discuss the statute of federal law v. State law in the United States. Chapter III will finally draw some points of discussion resulting from the development of the two first chapters.