Prison officers have been described as key determinants of the prison experience for prisoners, yet up until recently this occupational group was largely ignored in academic research. Although society often sees prison officers simply as ‘keepers of the keys’, the existing research has shown the job to be much more complex.

In this book, the author explores an element of the prison officer’s job that is still understudied: the existence of ethical dilemmas. In doing so, this book highli...

In many fields, enforcement of EU policies is performed by the Member States. In principle, Member States are free to decide how and by which means they enforce such policies, albeit under the observance of EU legal principles and harmonised rules. While differences between Member States are inevitable, especially at the interface of criminal and administrative enforcement, they should not create legal obstacles to effective and rule of law-based enforcement in cross-border cases. In his diss...

Minors can be involved in judicial proceedings of a different Member State when they have – allegedly – committed an offence within the EU. Whereas the EU has developed instruments to facilitate cooperation between Member States in criminal matters, no specific instruments exist to deal with cross-border youth justice cases. This book assesses to what extent it is possible and feasible to develop EU cooperation in youth justice matters.

In EU youth justice: The personal scope of EU crimin...

All over the world, governments impose punishments on their citizens for transgressions of the criminal law. Consensus exists that this sanctioning should be in accordance with the principle of legality and the rule of law. However, governments around the world struggle with providing foreseeability and non-arbitrariness in their sentencing systems. This continuous struggle raises the question how - and to what extent - foreseeability and non-arbitrariness must be guaranteed. Not only in rela...