This research project provides a systematic and comprehensive account of EU information systems functioning in the area of freedom, security and justice, with the aim to establish the contemporary links between information sharing and criminal law and evaluate its consequences. The first part of the project offers a systemisation and critical assessment of the information systems functioning in the context of the police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters in the EU (European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS), ECRIS for Third Country Nationals (ECRIS-TCN), Prüm framework, Passenger Name Records (PNR) framework, Europol system, Schengen Information System (SIS), European Dactyloscopy (Eurodac) system, Visa Information System (VIS), Entry/Exit System (EES), European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS)) and of the new interoperability regime, from the perspective of their objective to prevent and combat serious crime. The second part of the project explores personal data protection law, police law and criminal procedure law, in order to propose safeguards and limitations for regulating this rapidly evolving framework and addressing the challenges for fundamental principles and rights. The researchers’ central suggestion is that contemporary information processing and sharing in the EU has set the conditions for an emerging precognitive paradigm of criminal law.
The research project was carried out from 20 June 2018 to 19 December 2019. The research team consisted of Maria Kaiafa-Gbandi, Professor of Criminal Law AUTH and Scientific Coordinator, Athina Giannakoula, Post-doctoral researcher AUTH, and Dafni Lima, PhD candidate AUTH.
It was co-financed by the European Union (European Social Fund) and Greek national funds, by the Operational Program “Human Resources Development, Education and Lifelong Learning 2014-2020”, under the call for proposals ‘Supporting researchers with emphasis on new researchers’ (EDULLL 34), MIS 5005203.
In the context of the project, the research team:
- participated with the presentation “Combating Crime in the Digital Age: New Technologies in the Service of Security and Challenges for Personal Data Protection – A Critical Review of the Proposed EU Interoperability Framework for Police and Judicial Cooperation, Asylum and Migration” to the International Conference ‘IV CINETS Conference 2018 “Mobility and Security in an Era of Globalisation: Crimmigration at a Crossroads?”’ in London, 5–6.10.2018;
- carried out a research visit to the Library of the Law School of the Harvard University USA, 13–23 April 2019, to collect material and visit Harvard Professor of Law Carol Steiker;
- had its research published with the title ‘Combating Crime in the Digital Age: A Critical Review of EU Information Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice in the Post-Interoperability Era – Challenges for Criminal Law and Personal Data Protection’ in the International Law Journal ‘Brill Research Perspectives in Transnational Crime’ [v. 2.4., 2020, pages 1–97], https://brill.com/view/journals/rptc/2/4/rptc.2.issue-4.xml.