Book reviews: January 2022

4th edition

André Klip

PUBLISHER: INTERSENTIA
ISBN: 978-1780689685
PRICE: €125

This book remains the authoritative text on European criminal law. Now in its fourth edition, the author takes the subject matter from strength to strength and provides clear, readable analysis of this area of law.

What use is it to a lawyer in Scotland or the wider United Kingdom, post-withdrawal of the UK from the EU? Such a question risks exposing a narrow view of the law. Scots criminal law is no longer to be seen through the prism of the narrow lens of Scottish law. There are many decisions issued by the court where foreign law has been referred to as an aid to interpretation. It may be a niche area, but cross-border criminality in the age of the all pervasive internet, social media, online banking, and access to others outwith our own geographical borders, is an area that is being vigorously exploited by organised crime groups as well as those who just wish to spread their mendacious activity.

As an aid to interpretation and understanding of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which now regulates the legal relationship between the UK and EU, Klip looks at this within the context of other agreements with which practitioners in the EU will have to become familiar. There is an abundance of reference to other third state agreements.

So, to answer the question, how does this book help, the answer is found amongst its pages, where with clarity of thought, analysis and language, Professor Klip leads us through the development of EU criminal law and procedure and its consequent envelopment of these different agreements. On the wider picture, practitioners in Scotland and the rest of the UK will still need to advise clients caught in the grip of the judicial authorities within the EU states and have an understanding of the issues at play. It is in the very nature of a bilateral agreement, mutually agreed between the parties, that the rights and obligations and practical operation of that agreement will require to develop. Consideration of the developments in EU criminal law and practice will aid greater understanding of the new agreement, and insight into the approach taken to it by our European partners in criminal judicial cooperation. The law is enriched by this cross-fertilisation of thought.

On a practical level, prosecutors and judges in the UK will require to engage with the judicial authorities in EU member states including the now operational European Public Prosecutor, who has the competence to investigate fraud on the EU budget in a cross-border context. This is deftly dealt with. Withdrawal from the EU resulted in the loss of EU citizenship for UK nationals. However, in EU criminal law, one cannot overestimate the significance that citizenship plays within EU criminal justice considerations, not least in the area of surrender of fugitive offenders. Given the direction of travel of the EU, one can only imagine that principle gaining increased significance. It will be interesting to observe the development of the UK-EU relationship, but this book, addressing at its does so clearly the recent developments in EU criminal law, shines a bright light onto some of the future challenges that may be faced in the practice of judicial cooperation.

David J Dickson, solicitor advocate