The Chapter provides practical advice for lawyers conducting fraud investigations in Sweden. The ... more The Chapter provides practical advice for lawyers conducting fraud investigations in Sweden. The Chapter accounts for the relevant international and national Swedish rules in relation to internal investigation of suspected frauds. It suggests that while there are several methods of gathering evidence and successfully conducting such an investigation, there are a number of rules that need to be adhered to
As in other areas of social engineering, Sweden is considered and perhaps considers itself as wor... more As in other areas of social engineering, Sweden is considered and perhaps considers itself as world-leading in creating systems that address social inequality. One of the cases in point is the Swedish day-fine system. The idea that the amount of a fine ought to be settled in accordance with the daily income of the accused was devised as early as the beginning of the twentieth century by Professor Johan Thyren. The perceived inequality between wealthy and poor offenders created by fixed-fines were strong motivations when Sweden introduced its day-fine system in 1931. The Swedish day-fine system has been considered as pioneering by systematically taking into account both the wealth of the offender and the seriousness of the offence when imposing the penalty. This chapter considers in depth the Swedish day-fine system. The case study of Sweden is illustrative for two reasons. First, as there was extensive debate in Sweden prior to introducing the system and discussions on extending the...
The Chapter provides practical advice for lawyers conducting fraud investigations in Sweden. The ... more The Chapter provides practical advice for lawyers conducting fraud investigations in Sweden. The Chapter accounts for the relevant international and national Swedish rules in relation to internal investigation of suspected frauds. It suggests that while there are several methods of gathering evidence and successfully conducting such an investigation, there are a number of rules that need to be adhered to.
The Legal Basis for EU Criminal Law Legislation—A Constitutional Choice?
Limits to EU Powers : A Case Study of EU Regulatory Criminal Law
Article 83(2) TFEU, introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon, confers a power on the EU to harmonise Me... more Article 83(2) TFEU, introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon, confers a power on the EU to harmonise Member States’ legislation to define criminal offences and criminal sanctions. Nonetheless, uncertainty persists as to whether this provision exhaustively determines the EU’s power to adopt criminal law to enforce its policies. The article outlines the core case for viewing art.83(2) TFEU as a lex specialis. It argues that the post-Lisbon constitutional design, alongside principled and teleological considerations, support a Member State centred approach for criminal law competence. This is particularly the case with regard to the adoption of harmonisation measures.
The journey of EU criminal law on the ship of fools – what are the implications for supranational governance of EU criminal justice agencies?
Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law
This article addresses supranational governance of EU criminal justice agencies from the perspect... more This article addresses supranational governance of EU criminal justice agencies from the perspective of the various agencies of policy and rulemaking who have contributed to the impressive developments in the field of EU criminal law. Taking as a working hypothesis the happenstance and haphazard character of this field of policy and law, it suggests that there is an absence of design. In the discussion the article proposes the Platonic analogy of the ‘ship of fools’ (Plato, Republic, Book VI) as an explanatory tool. The ship's captain is the guiding spirit of criminal law, but the crew of the ship, who have the power to take control, have diverse interests and ideas about how the ship should be taken to sea and navigated. The article addresses thematically and chronologically the development of EU criminal policy by means of this framework. Subsequently it discusses the extent to which the ‘ship of fools’ analogy is relevant to the development of EU criminal justice agencies, an...
It is clear that the formal inclusion of the national parliament as a political actor within the ... more It is clear that the formal inclusion of the national parliament as a political actor within the EU decision-making process has been one of the most important innovations of the Lisbon Treaty. Their role, however, remains controversial. It is on the one hand disputed whether national parliaments enjoy sufficient powers to tame ‘competence creep’. On the other hand, it is contested to what extent it is desirable that they should become involved as a legislative actor in the EU’s decision-making procedure. This essay contributes to these debates by critically examining to what extent national parliaments can contribute to the enforcement of the subsidiarity principle. The article contends that national parliaments by having taken a too expansive view of their remit under Protocol No 2 appears to have ‘misunderstood’ their role within the EU- decision making procedure. Notwithstanding this, it is sustained that national parliaments could, in the absence of other trustworthy safeguards ...
The principle of subsidiarity and the harmonisation of national criminal procedure
This article examines how subsidiarity can limit the exercise of EU procedural criminal law compe... more This article examines how subsidiarity can limit the exercise of EU procedural criminal law competence. It argues for a narrow understanding of subsidiarity, suggesting that EU procedural criminal law legislation can only be directed at problems which are of a cross-border nature. By analysing a specific piece of EU legislation, the new Victims Directive, it is shown how the subsidiarity principle can be enforced. The article sustains that the Victims Directive can be criticised on subsidiarity grounds as the directive fails to adequately account for the link between victim rights and the application of the principle of mutual recognition, since the directive fails to explain properly the need to regulate local victim rights. The article also draws some broader reflections on the justifications for EU harmonization. It is argued that EU initiatives in procedural criminal law have not primarily been driven by the need to facilitate mutual recognition and free movement but rather moti...
Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law, 2021
The articles in this special issue consider the institutional foundations of the Union’s criminal... more The articles in this special issue consider the institutional foundations of the Union’s criminal policy – a highly critical question for the future development of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice. The ratification of the Lisbon Treaty and the subsequent legal and political developments have entailed an unprecedented reinforcement of the powers of the EU’s criminal justice agencies Europol, Eurojust and, recently, the establishment of a novel criminal justice body – the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. On the basis of the Treaty mandate, the EU legislator has adopted important reforms such as the EPPO Regulation, and new Europol and Eurojust regulations. In light of these developments, this special issue explores via a multi-disciplinary investigation the extent to which the increased competences of the EU and the stronger presence of EU criminal justice agencies have transformed EU criminal law from an ‘intergovernmental’ regime to a ‘supranational’ and ‘integrated’ fr...
The Principle of Proportionality in Union Law - a legal safeguard of federalism
The subject matter of this paper is to unravel the ‘federal’ nature of proportionality in Union l... more The subject matter of this paper is to unravel the ‘federal’ nature of proportionality in Union law. Does the principle of proportionality work as a safeguard of federalism or is it merely a legal tool for the Court to further market integration beyond the limits of the Treaty? If federalism refers to how powers are balanced and allocated between the central government and its constituent parts, i.e. the Union and its Member States, the simple answer to this question is that the principle of proportionality imposes limits on the regulatory freedom of the Member States in forming their national policies. In order to provide a more comprehensive response to this question this paper closely reviews the case-law of the CJEU and analyses how different standards of proportionality review may influence the allocation of power between the Member States and the Union.
The European Public Prosecutor: Quintessential supranational criminal law?
Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law, 2021
This article critically examines the extent to which the European Public Prosecutor’s Office can ... more This article critically examines the extent to which the European Public Prosecutor’s Office can be claimed to constitute a prime example of supranational criminal law. The article observes that among policymakers and commentators, the Office appears to be a hallmark of the transformation of EU criminal law from an intergovernmental paradigm to a strong federal and supranational polity. The article discusses the scope, nature and limits to the powers of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, as well as its operating structure in light of Article 86 TFEU and the recently adopted EPPO Regulation. It departs from the basic assumption that the EPPO stands in the midst of supranationalism and intergovernmentalism. Whilst the EPPO is envisaged to be independent of the Member States, the Office’s complicated, multifaceted and vertical structure means that Member States are able to direct, to some extent, its activities. The article argues, however, that a general assessment of the Office...
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Papers by Jacob Öberg