EXTRATERRITORIAL JURISDICTION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION A STUDY OF THE LAWS AND PRACTICE IN THE 27 MEMBER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION December 2010 REDRESS FIDH 87 Vauxhall Walk 17, passage de la main d’or London, SE11 5HJ 75011 Paris United Kingdom France +44 20 7793 1777 + 33 1 43 55 25 18 www.redress.org www.fidh.org ii REDRESS/FIDH Table of Contents Table of Contents ..................................................................................... iii Table of Figures ........................................................................................ vi Table of Abbreviations ................................................................................. vi I. Introduction .......................................................................................... 1 II. The international law obligations of member states regarding crimes under international law ....................................................................................... 5 a. The relevant treaties and customary international law ................................. 5 b. Criminalisation under Domestic Law ........................................................ 6 c. Prosecute or Extradite ........................................................................ 7 d. Extradition and Transfer..................................................................... 11 e. Cooperation with International Tribunals and the International Criminal Court .... 12 III. Overview of the laws and practices relating to extraterritorial jurisdiction in EU member states ......................................................................................... 13 III.1 Domestic legislation criminalising crimes under international law .................... 13 III.2 Forms of extraterritorial jurisdiction....................................................... 16 a. Active Personality Jurisdiction ............................................................. 18 b. Passive Personality Jurisdiction ............................................................ 18 c. Universal Jurisdiction ........................................................................ 19 III.3 Key Procedural Hurdles Arising in the Exercise of Extraterritorial Jurisdiction ...... 22 a. The Requirement of Some States for the Case to have a Link or Connection with the State ............................................................................................... 22 b. The Concept of ‘Subsidiarity’ ............................................................... 25 c. Prosecutorial and Executive Discretion .................................................... 27 d. Double Criminality ............................................................................ 32 e. The Use of Statutes of Limitation .......................................................... 33 f. Immunities in criminal cases ................................................................ 33 g. Overview chart ................................................................................ 39 III.4 The procedural rights of victims and other parties and their experience of the process ............................................................................................... 40 a. Victims’ ability to initiate criminal investigations ....................................... 40 b. Victim (Private) Prosecutions ............................................................... 41 c. Ability for victims and others to review decisions of the prosecutor or other governmental body .............................................................................. 44 d. The ability for victims to join a prosecution as civil party ............................. 45 REDRESS/FIDH | Table of Contents iii e. In-Court measures to protect victims and witnesses .................................... 47 f. Out-of-Court measures to protect victims and witnesses ............................... 51 g. Overview chart ................................................................................ 55 IV. The European Union and Extraterritorial Jurisdiction ....................................... 55 IV.1 The Lisbon Treaty .......................................................................... 57 IV.2 Stockholm Programme ..................................................................... 57 IV.3 Eurojust ...................................................................................... 59 IV.4 Council Decision 2002/494/JHA on the establishment of a European network of contact points in respect of persons responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes ...................................................................................... 60 IV.5 Council Decision on the investigation and prosecution of serious international crimes ................................................................................................ 62 V. The practicalities of identifying, investigating and prosecuting individuals suspected of serious international crimes ......................................................................... 63 V.1 The Governmental Body Leading the Investigation .................................... 65 V.2 Cooperation between Police, Prosecution Service and Immigration Authorities .. 66 V.3 The Establishment of Specialised Units to Investigate and Prosecute Serious Crimes Under International Law .................................................................. 69 V.4 Training of investigators, prosecutors, judges ......................................... 70 VI. Legislation and Practice of the States Surveyed .............................................. 72 Austria ............................................................................................... 72 Belgium .............................................................................................. 78 Bulgaria .............................................................................................. 93 Cyprus ................................................................................................ 99 Czech Republic .................................................................................... 102 Denmark ........................................................................................... 110 Estonia ............................................................................................. 116 Finland ............................................................................................. 122 France .............................................................................................. 131 Germany ........................................................................................... 138 Greece .............................................................................................. 147 Hungary ............................................................................................ 152 Ireland .............................................................................................. 158 Italy ................................................................................................. 165 Latvia ............................................................................................... 169 Lithuania ........................................................................................... 173 iv REDRESS/FIDH Luxembourg ....................................................................................... 179 Malta ............................................................................................... 185 The Netherlands .................................................................................. 194 Norway ............................................................................................. 202 Poland .............................................................................................. 210 Portugal ............................................................................................ 215 Romania ............................................................................................ 219 Slovakia ............................................................................................ 227 Slovenia ............................................................................................ 232 Spain ................................................................................................ 238 Sweden ............................................................................................. 245 Switzerland ........................................................................................ 252 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland .................................... 260 REDRESS/FIDH | Table of Contents v Table 1: Bases of jurisdiction available in EU member countries (in relation to at least one crime under international law) ...................................................................... 17 Table 2: Categories of crime subject to universal jurisdiction in EU member countries ... 21 Table 3: Types of international crime subject to universal jurisdiction in EU member states ........................................................................................................... 22 Table 4: Breakdown of discretion in the exercise of extraterritorial jurisdiction for crimes under international law in EU member states..................................................... 31 Table 5: Breakdown of procedural issues arising in the exercise of extraterritorial jurisdiction for crimes under international law in EU member states ........................