Els De Busser

Winner of the 2014 Siracusa Prize for Young Penalists

In this book three specific elements are joined in one research for the first time. The protection of personal data in criminal matters as a first element is studied in two relationships: the cooperation in criminal matters between judicial and law enforcement authorities of the European Union member states (including Europol and Eurojust) on the one hand and the cooperation in criminal matters between the judicial and law enforcement authorities of the European Union (including Europol and Eurojust) and the United States of America on the other hand. This book offers answers to the central question whether the European Union complies with her own standards of data protection in these internal relations and in the transatlantic cooperation in criminal matters.

The new framework decision on data protection in criminal matters that entered into force early 2009 is a significant element in this research alongside the agreement concluded between the European Union and the United States on mutual assistance in criminal matters of which the entry into force is equally planned for 2009. The current circumstances are thus the perfect background for this research that also reflects on the policy proposals of the European Union on justice and home affairs for the period of 2010-2014.

Els De Busser is doctor at law, currently affiliated to the Department of Penal Law and Criminology, Institute for International Research on Criminal Policy (IRCP), Ghent University (Belgium). This publication is the result of her doctoral thesis.