European (criminal) Law v. National (criminal) Law – a two way street

Abstract

European criminal law is an emerging field, both influencing and being influenced by national criminal law. European (criminal) law draws its roots from constitutional principles stemming from common traditions of the Member States. Also, European Union instruments are highly influential over national criminal law, through policy making, legislative instruments and interpreting case law. One can imagine European versus national criminal law as a two way street, where each turn of one of the traffic participants shall necessarily influence the other one.