European Criminal Law and the Dangerous Citizen

In: Maastricht journal of European and comparative law: MJ, Band 25, Heft 6, S. 733-751

Abstract

This article will examine the impact of the Europeanization of punishment, and of criminal justice in general, on the focus of criminal law on dangerousness and on dangerous citizens, rather than on harm and facts. It argues that the EU criminal law is part of a growing global trend pushing towards preventive criminal justice, namely the exercise of state power in order to prevent future acts that are deemed to constitute security threats, which at EU level is problematic in terms of fundamental rights and citizenship rights. The article argues EU criminal law is contributing to three main shifts: a shift from an investigation of acts that have taken place due to an emphasis on suspicion, a shift from targeted action to generalized surveillance, or, underpinning both, a temporal shift from the past to the future. It develops this argument looking at administrative terrorist sanctions, criminalization of terrorist acts, mass surveillance and expulsion of convicted criminals.