The coming into force of the Lisbon Treaty has provided the EU with new powers in the fields of criminal law and security law while reinforcing existing powers in immigration and asylum law. The Stockholm Programme is the latest framework for EU action in the field of justice and home affairs. It includes a range of new legislation in the fields of immigration and asylum, substantive criminal law, criminal procedure and co-operation between national criminal justice systems. The combination of the new treaty and programme have made security and justice key areas of legislative growth in the EU. This volume brings together a range of leading scholars, as well as some of the most interesting new voices in the debate, to examine the state of EU security and justice law after the Lisbon Treaty and the Stockholm Programme. It provides a critical examination of EU law in the fields of immigration, asylum, counter-terrorism, citizenship, fundamental rights and external relations. The book also examines the evolving roles of the EU institutions and criminal justice agencies. It provides a critical account of EU law in this field under the developing constitutional and institutional settlement.

This book presents a collection of essays on key topics and new perspectives on the EU’s Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ) and has a Foreword by the President of the Court of Justice of the European Union, Prof. Dr. Koen Lenaerts. Europe’s area of freedom, security and justice is of increasing importance in contemporary EU law and legislation. It is worthy of special research attention because of its high-stakes content (particularly from an individual and a state perspective) and because its development to date has tangentially thrown up some of the most important and contentious constitutional questions in EU law. As the AFSJ becomes more and more intertwined with ‘mainstream’ EU law, this edited collection provides a timely analysis of the merger between the two. Showcasing a selection of work from key thinkers in this field, the book is organised around the major AFSJ themes of crime, security, border control, civil law cooperation and important ‘meta’ issues of governance and constitutional law. It also analyses the major constitutional and governance challenges such as variable geometry, institutional dynamics, and interface with rights around data protection/secrecy/spying. In the concluding section of the book the editors consider the extent to which the different facets of the AFSJ can be construed in a coherent and systematic manner within the EU legal system, as well as identifying potential future research agendas. The European Union as an Area of Freedom, Security and Justice will be of great interest to students and scholars of European law and politics.

European Union procedures and laws on justice and home affairs touch on some of the most sensitive questions facing the EU today. They deal with issues such as asylum, immigration, drugs, crime and cross-border legal questions. As businesses and individuals increasingly take up their right to live and work anywhere in the EU, European aspects of court proceedings and citizens' rights will become ever more important. It is important for Europe's citizens that the objectives of justice and home affairs policies - freedom, security and justice - are interlinked and balanced, as freedom loses much of its meaning if it cannot be enjoyed in a secure environment and if it is not backed up by a fair and smoothly functioning legal system.

The various political crises that occurred in 2008, and the gradual shift of the world towards a new multipolar order, vividly demonstrated the vital role that the EU can and should play on the international stage today. This holds true whether in the context of the global financial crisis and its implications for the conduct of foreign policy, regional crises or with regard to partnerships with the other global players. As underlined by the High Representative for CFSP, Javier Solana, and by the European Commission in the Report on the European Security Strategy, the EU now carries "greater responsibilities than at any time in its history" in the face of "increasingly complex threats and challenges." In Georgia, Somalia, Darfur, Kosovo, Guinea-Bissau, as well as in many other places in the world, the European Union strives to contribute to the defence and protection of vulnerable civilian populations and to promote security. This Chaillot Paper, the IXth volume in the EUISS annual series of Core documents on European security and defence, is a compilation of all the main decisions and initiatives undertaken by the EU in 2008 in the framework of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP).

This work is an expanded and revised version of a research publication, "Transnational risks and internal security in the Baltic Area and Post-Soviet Russia," that was written by the authors and published by the Police College of Finland in Espoo, Finland in October 1998.

This volume in the prestigious series of Oxford Handbooks provides a widely accessible overview of legal scholarship at the start of the 21st century. Through 43 essays by leading legal scholars based in the USA, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Germany, it offers original and interpretative accounts of the nature, themes and trends of research and writing about all areas of the law.

Combating trafficking in human beings (THB) for labor exploitation requires additional skills, knowledge, and awareness for effective investigation and prosecution, and for the identification and assistance of victims of this form of THB. Actors other than the police and the prosecution services (such as labor inspectorates, social investigation services, and municipalities) have also become involved in these activities. It is unclear which role these actors can have in identifying victims and in investigating and prosecuting (cross-border) THB for labor exploitation and which improvements are needed. They are often unfamiliar with, for instance, the specific needs of victims, how trafficking networks operate, and how to cooperate with colleagues abroad. These problems obviously hamper the combating of THB for labor exploitation. In addition, difficulties in defining THB for labor exploitation still exist. Labor exploitation, as such, is not a term used in the Palermo Protocol or the EU Directive on Preventing and Combating THB and Protecting Victims. One can say that labor exploitation includes, at least, forced and compulsory labor and services, slavery, and slavery-like practices, although this does not solve the problems encountered in defining the crime. In this book, these and other problems, as well as the challenges of dealing with these problems, are identified. It includes research in five countries (Austria, The Netherlands, Romania, Serbia, and Spain), research on the EU legal framework, an analysis of the country studies, as well as four articles reflecting on these problems.